California
Blog
Spending Watch
Backfilling Lost Federal Education Funding Will Cost California Dearly
Backfilling Lost Federal Education Funding Will Cost California Dearly Wayne Winegarden February 2025 The erratic actions of the Trump Administration are undoubtedly making it more difficult for states to budget for the upcoming 2026 fiscal year. The knee-jerk reaction from many California politicians is to call for more taxes on ...
California
Read the latest about California's ineffective government homelessness programs
A Website About Being Transparent That Isn’t
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration has launched a new initiative – accountability.ca.gov – which it characterizes as “bring(ing) together thousands of locally reported data points to provide a clear picture of local communities’ work on California’s most pressing issues, including homelessness.” In case your stomach is full after eating that word ...
Blog
Should State Government Take Over Gasoline Production in California?
Some are small but add up over time. Others are large, their negative effects almost immediate. In this last category belongs the idea that the state should take ownership of one or more oil refineries. It’s among a number of proposals offered by the California Energy Commission, which was tasked ...
California
Sheriff Jim Cooper – What’s Next after Voter Passage of Prop. 36
From PRI’s 2025 California Ideas in Action Conference, Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper sits down with PRI senior fellow Steve Smith to discuss what’s next in the push for stronger criminal justice policy reforms following the landslide victory of Prop. 36 combating retail theft. Plus, Ro and Tim discuss the ...
California
Watch Videos from PRI’s 2025 California Ideas in Action Conference
Watch Videos from PRI’s 2025 California Ideas in Action Conference The 2025 PRI California Ideas in Action Conference featured conversations and panel discussions with leading state policy makers, real life changemakers, and top free market thinkers on some of California’s top challenges, including what’s next for stronger criminal justice policy ...
California
The vanishing electric vehicle advantage
The theory is that though upfront costs are higher, EV “refueling” holds a major advantage of electric vehicles over their gas-powered counterparts. EVs do not require gasoline, which California has taxed and regulated into oblivion, sending prices soaring; instead they rely on electricity that costs less. But those savings are ...
California
Newsom’s Battle Against Misinformation Should Be Directed Inward
California Gov. Gavin Newsom launched a webpage last month to fight misinformation and disinformation about the tragic wildfires in Los Angeles. Irony is dead. The self-appointed Disinformation Czar doesn’t seem to realize he is one of the leading sources of bad information. Read the entire op-ed here.
Blog
Latest report shows California bullet train is really a train to nowhere
Will There Ever Be Any Good News About The High-Speed Rail?
Last month’s spike-driving ceremony was a feel-good story about the California bullet train. It was, said Gov. Gavin Newsom, a “big damn deal” that indicated “progress” was being made on a project that is embarrassingly behind schedule and almost inconceivably over cost. It was an event for public consumption that ...
California
Joe Kent – Lessons from Maui as LA Begins to Rebuild
This week, Joe Kent of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii joins us to share lessons learned from the Aloha State’s experience in rebuilding after the devastating Maui wildfires from a few years ago. It’s a conversation everyone who has been affected by the wildfires should listen to, especially as leaders ...
California
California’s Rash Plastic Lawsuit Is Anti-Growth And Anti-Environment
California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s plastics lawsuit against ExxonMobil may be astute politics but it is terrible policy. This lawsuit is rife with contradictions. Frivolous lawsuits are also a large and growing pall hanging over the economy. Read the entire op-ed:
Spending Watch
Backfilling Lost Federal Education Funding Will Cost California Dearly
Backfilling Lost Federal Education Funding Will Cost California Dearly Wayne Winegarden February 2025 The erratic actions of the Trump Administration are undoubtedly making it more difficult for states to budget for the upcoming 2026 fiscal year. The knee-jerk reaction from many California politicians is to call for more taxes on ...
Read the latest about California's ineffective government homelessness programs
A Website About Being Transparent That Isn’t
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration has launched a new initiative – accountability.ca.gov – which it characterizes as “bring(ing) together thousands of locally reported data points to provide a clear picture of local communities’ work on California’s most pressing issues, including homelessness.” In case your stomach is full after eating that word ...
Should State Government Take Over Gasoline Production in California?
Some are small but add up over time. Others are large, their negative effects almost immediate. In this last category belongs the idea that the state should take ownership of one or more oil refineries. It’s among a number of proposals offered by the California Energy Commission, which was tasked ...
Sheriff Jim Cooper – What’s Next after Voter Passage of Prop. 36
From PRI’s 2025 California Ideas in Action Conference, Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper sits down with PRI senior fellow Steve Smith to discuss what’s next in the push for stronger criminal justice policy reforms following the landslide victory of Prop. 36 combating retail theft. Plus, Ro and Tim discuss the ...
Watch Videos from PRI’s 2025 California Ideas in Action Conference
Watch Videos from PRI’s 2025 California Ideas in Action Conference The 2025 PRI California Ideas in Action Conference featured conversations and panel discussions with leading state policy makers, real life changemakers, and top free market thinkers on some of California’s top challenges, including what’s next for stronger criminal justice policy ...
The vanishing electric vehicle advantage
The theory is that though upfront costs are higher, EV “refueling” holds a major advantage of electric vehicles over their gas-powered counterparts. EVs do not require gasoline, which California has taxed and regulated into oblivion, sending prices soaring; instead they rely on electricity that costs less. But those savings are ...
Newsom’s Battle Against Misinformation Should Be Directed Inward
California Gov. Gavin Newsom launched a webpage last month to fight misinformation and disinformation about the tragic wildfires in Los Angeles. Irony is dead. The self-appointed Disinformation Czar doesn’t seem to realize he is one of the leading sources of bad information. Read the entire op-ed here.
Latest report shows California bullet train is really a train to nowhere
Will There Ever Be Any Good News About The High-Speed Rail?
Last month’s spike-driving ceremony was a feel-good story about the California bullet train. It was, said Gov. Gavin Newsom, a “big damn deal” that indicated “progress” was being made on a project that is embarrassingly behind schedule and almost inconceivably over cost. It was an event for public consumption that ...
Joe Kent – Lessons from Maui as LA Begins to Rebuild
This week, Joe Kent of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii joins us to share lessons learned from the Aloha State’s experience in rebuilding after the devastating Maui wildfires from a few years ago. It’s a conversation everyone who has been affected by the wildfires should listen to, especially as leaders ...
California’s Rash Plastic Lawsuit Is Anti-Growth And Anti-Environment
California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s plastics lawsuit against ExxonMobil may be astute politics but it is terrible policy. This lawsuit is rife with contradictions. Frivolous lawsuits are also a large and growing pall hanging over the economy. Read the entire op-ed:
