California
California
Newsom promises efficient and accountable state budget, delivers bloated and ineffective spending plan
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday unveiled the initial details of his $322.2 billion state budget proposal for the 2025-26 fiscal year. Based on his presentation, Californians should be worried. He claims that his budget will promote an “efficient and leaner” government, yet his plan is neither. The Newsom budget would ...
Blog
Will Trump finally put nail in coffin of CA's high speed rail boondoggle?
Can California Find Other Uses For Bullet Train Infrastructure If The Project Is Canceled?
If the incoming administration doesn’t end the great train robbery, then Congress might. Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley of Rocklin plans to introduce legislation that eliminates federal funding “for the failed California High-Speed Rail project.” Vivek Ramaswamy, who with Elon Musk is leading the Department of Government Efficiency, called the California bullet ...
Blog
What can Californians expect from state lawmakers in 2025?
Here are 5 things to watch for as the Legislature Reconvenes
The Trump effect Fresh off a decisive re-election victory, President-elect Donald Trump is dominating U.S. politics. Surprisingly, he is also dominating California politics despite the fact that he is broadly unpopular in the state – though much less so than his first term as evidenced by his gaining nearly 5 ...
Blog
Grants Pass and Prop 36 Will Help Policymakers Control California’s Homeless Crisis
Between 2007 and 2014, homelessness declined faster in California than the rest of the country – an 18 percent total decline in California compared to a 9 percent total decline in the rest of the country. And then something happened in 2014. While the number of homeless in California began ...
California
It’s a Blessing that California Democrats Are Limiting the Number of New Bills
It takes no effort for limited-government devotees to find fault with Sacramento. But on occasion, lawmakers in the supermajority come upon an idea that even the right will get behind. The most recent illustration is legislative leaders’ decision to cut the number of bills that can be introduced during the ...
California
$30 minimum wage would be an Olympian error for Los Angeles
The Los Angeles City Council is hiking the minimum wage for hotel and airport workers to $30 an hour. It will turn out to be a five-diamond mistake. The vote wasn’t even close. By a 12-3 margin, the Council decided to give a raise to workers they don’t employ and ...
California
Drivers Beware: California’s Road Diet to Grow Stricter in New Year
When the calendar turns over to 2025, parking in California cities will be even more of a hassle than it already is. Jan. 1 marks the day that cities can begin slapping tickets on cars parked too close to crosswalks. San Francisco is expected to lose nearly 14,000 street spaces. ...
Blog
Spending Watch
A More Effective Safety Net, Not A Basic Income, Will Help Lift People Out of Poverty
A More Effective Safety Net, Not A Basic Income, Will Help Lift People Out of Poverty Wayne Winegarden and Nikhil Agarwal December 2024 2024 was a good year for proponents of a universal basic income (UBI). Following the 2019 experiment in Stockton, UBI pilot programs are underway across cities in ...
California
Making the incarcerated work is not slavery
On Election Day, Bear Flag Republic voters confronted — along with referenda on increased bond funding for public schools and in-state colleges, the creation of a constitutional right to marriage, and an increase in the $16 per hour minimum wage — a proposal to eliminate so-called involuntary servitude, the California ...
Blog
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
Can cities keep up as California steps up housing lawsuits?
Housing Element parameters are determined by the state, guiding cities and counties to produce sufficient inventory to accommodate community needs. While Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) numbers get updated every eight years, what is planned for – and what is actually built – have long differed. The state this year ...
Newsom promises efficient and accountable state budget, delivers bloated and ineffective spending plan
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday unveiled the initial details of his $322.2 billion state budget proposal for the 2025-26 fiscal year. Based on his presentation, Californians should be worried. He claims that his budget will promote an “efficient and leaner” government, yet his plan is neither. The Newsom budget would ...
Will Trump finally put nail in coffin of CA's high speed rail boondoggle?
Can California Find Other Uses For Bullet Train Infrastructure If The Project Is Canceled?
If the incoming administration doesn’t end the great train robbery, then Congress might. Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley of Rocklin plans to introduce legislation that eliminates federal funding “for the failed California High-Speed Rail project.” Vivek Ramaswamy, who with Elon Musk is leading the Department of Government Efficiency, called the California bullet ...
What can Californians expect from state lawmakers in 2025?
Here are 5 things to watch for as the Legislature Reconvenes
The Trump effect Fresh off a decisive re-election victory, President-elect Donald Trump is dominating U.S. politics. Surprisingly, he is also dominating California politics despite the fact that he is broadly unpopular in the state – though much less so than his first term as evidenced by his gaining nearly 5 ...
Grants Pass and Prop 36 Will Help Policymakers Control California’s Homeless Crisis
Between 2007 and 2014, homelessness declined faster in California than the rest of the country – an 18 percent total decline in California compared to a 9 percent total decline in the rest of the country. And then something happened in 2014. While the number of homeless in California began ...
It’s a Blessing that California Democrats Are Limiting the Number of New Bills
It takes no effort for limited-government devotees to find fault with Sacramento. But on occasion, lawmakers in the supermajority come upon an idea that even the right will get behind. The most recent illustration is legislative leaders’ decision to cut the number of bills that can be introduced during the ...
$30 minimum wage would be an Olympian error for Los Angeles
The Los Angeles City Council is hiking the minimum wage for hotel and airport workers to $30 an hour. It will turn out to be a five-diamond mistake. The vote wasn’t even close. By a 12-3 margin, the Council decided to give a raise to workers they don’t employ and ...
Drivers Beware: California’s Road Diet to Grow Stricter in New Year
When the calendar turns over to 2025, parking in California cities will be even more of a hassle than it already is. Jan. 1 marks the day that cities can begin slapping tickets on cars parked too close to crosswalks. San Francisco is expected to lose nearly 14,000 street spaces. ...
Spending Watch
A More Effective Safety Net, Not A Basic Income, Will Help Lift People Out of Poverty
A More Effective Safety Net, Not A Basic Income, Will Help Lift People Out of Poverty Wayne Winegarden and Nikhil Agarwal December 2024 2024 was a good year for proponents of a universal basic income (UBI). Following the 2019 experiment in Stockton, UBI pilot programs are underway across cities in ...
Making the incarcerated work is not slavery
On Election Day, Bear Flag Republic voters confronted — along with referenda on increased bond funding for public schools and in-state colleges, the creation of a constitutional right to marriage, and an increase in the $16 per hour minimum wage — a proposal to eliminate so-called involuntary servitude, the California ...
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
Can cities keep up as California steps up housing lawsuits?
Housing Element parameters are determined by the state, guiding cities and counties to produce sufficient inventory to accommodate community needs. While Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) numbers get updated every eight years, what is planned for – and what is actually built – have long differed. The state this year ...
