California
Blog
Don’t Spend Your Gas Tax Rebate Yet . . .
Not much progress has been made in the effort to enact a gas tax rebate or gas tax holiday since lawmakers and Gov. Newsom released competing proposals last month. Californians have been waiting for Sacramento to take action to provide relief from gas prices that, even though may have dipped ...
Commentary
Medicaid Expansion Would Only Expand Waste And Poor Care
Expanding Medicaid is popular, according to new survey data from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Two-thirds of Americans living in the 12 states that have not expanded the program as prescribed by Obamacare want their leaders to change course and boost enrollment. Perhaps they’ll change their minds after reviewing the latest data on ...
Blog
Permanent Solutions or Band-Aids: Solving the Decades-Old California Homelessness Crisis
California’s budget last year contained $12 billion, a record number, to address homelessness. Yet, California has the largest homeless population in the nation with, as of January 2020, around 161,500 individuals. California is one of the few states that experienced one of the largest homelessness increases between 2019-2020 with a ...
Blog
Earth Day: How To Avoid Discussion Of Real California Issues
Conspicuously missing from the Los Angeles mayor’s race, the Los Angeles Times “reported” last month, was an adequate focus on climate change. No surprise that the Times’ culture columnist and critic followed up by writing that “the only thing we should be talking about is the climate crisis.” Rather than ...
CEQA
Chris Carr Highlighted For His New Study “The CEQA Gauntlet” and Quoted in Bloomberg
Chris Carr’s new study “The CEQA Gauntlet” was featured and quoted in the Bloomberg piece “Berkeley Housing Battle Revives Debate Over Environmental Law”. Carr discusses the problems CEQA poses today with Bloomberg. “You can be sure the authors of CEQA didn’t think about the Boschian hellscape we have today,” said ...
Agriculture
How California Agriculture Can Survive Another Year of Drought, State Water Cutbacks
Water management and drought preparedness should be cornerstones of every state in the West. Among the states suffering the most from lack of water is California. Water has shown itself to be a finite resource in many states, particularly those reliant upon surface snowpack sources from mountain ranges in the ...
California
Steve Smith – Rising Crime and the Sacramento Shootings
Our guest this week is PRI Senior Fellow Steve Smith. An expert in public safety policy, he was a former police officer and a former professor of criminal justice. Steve gives his thoughts on the Sacramento shooting as well rising crime in the state, the role of progressive prosecutors, and ...
Blog
There’s No Such Thing as Free Public Transportation Either
Whether it’s suspending the gas tax, $400 gift cards, or $200 refund checks – these proposals to help Californians cope with high gas prices all have varying degrees of merit. But free public transportation? That was a real head scratcher. Gov. Newsom, in his $11 billion relief package for Californians, ...
Blog
Despite Jones Act, Gas Prices Are Even Lower in High-Cost Hawaii Compared to California
Recently, I enjoyed a week-long vacation in Hawaii. One of the highlights of my trip was a circle island tour across Oahu. When driving through Waimanalo on our way to the Pali Lookout, I noticed a gas station selling regular unleaded for $5.08 per gallon. In fact, Hawaii’s price was ...
Blog
If Cutting The Work Week By 20% Means More Productivity, Why Not Cut It By 50%, Or More?
Should California workers work fewer hours in the work week? Some state lawmakers say yes. Under Assembly Bill 2932, the work week for companies with more than 500 employees would fall to 32 hours. Those working more than eight hours a day and 32 hours in a given week would ...
Don’t Spend Your Gas Tax Rebate Yet . . .
Not much progress has been made in the effort to enact a gas tax rebate or gas tax holiday since lawmakers and Gov. Newsom released competing proposals last month. Californians have been waiting for Sacramento to take action to provide relief from gas prices that, even though may have dipped ...
Medicaid Expansion Would Only Expand Waste And Poor Care
Expanding Medicaid is popular, according to new survey data from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Two-thirds of Americans living in the 12 states that have not expanded the program as prescribed by Obamacare want their leaders to change course and boost enrollment. Perhaps they’ll change their minds after reviewing the latest data on ...
Permanent Solutions or Band-Aids: Solving the Decades-Old California Homelessness Crisis
California’s budget last year contained $12 billion, a record number, to address homelessness. Yet, California has the largest homeless population in the nation with, as of January 2020, around 161,500 individuals. California is one of the few states that experienced one of the largest homelessness increases between 2019-2020 with a ...
Earth Day: How To Avoid Discussion Of Real California Issues
Conspicuously missing from the Los Angeles mayor’s race, the Los Angeles Times “reported” last month, was an adequate focus on climate change. No surprise that the Times’ culture columnist and critic followed up by writing that “the only thing we should be talking about is the climate crisis.” Rather than ...
Chris Carr Highlighted For His New Study “The CEQA Gauntlet” and Quoted in Bloomberg
Chris Carr’s new study “The CEQA Gauntlet” was featured and quoted in the Bloomberg piece “Berkeley Housing Battle Revives Debate Over Environmental Law”. Carr discusses the problems CEQA poses today with Bloomberg. “You can be sure the authors of CEQA didn’t think about the Boschian hellscape we have today,” said ...
How California Agriculture Can Survive Another Year of Drought, State Water Cutbacks
Water management and drought preparedness should be cornerstones of every state in the West. Among the states suffering the most from lack of water is California. Water has shown itself to be a finite resource in many states, particularly those reliant upon surface snowpack sources from mountain ranges in the ...
Steve Smith – Rising Crime and the Sacramento Shootings
Our guest this week is PRI Senior Fellow Steve Smith. An expert in public safety policy, he was a former police officer and a former professor of criminal justice. Steve gives his thoughts on the Sacramento shooting as well rising crime in the state, the role of progressive prosecutors, and ...
There’s No Such Thing as Free Public Transportation Either
Whether it’s suspending the gas tax, $400 gift cards, or $200 refund checks – these proposals to help Californians cope with high gas prices all have varying degrees of merit. But free public transportation? That was a real head scratcher. Gov. Newsom, in his $11 billion relief package for Californians, ...
Despite Jones Act, Gas Prices Are Even Lower in High-Cost Hawaii Compared to California
Recently, I enjoyed a week-long vacation in Hawaii. One of the highlights of my trip was a circle island tour across Oahu. When driving through Waimanalo on our way to the Pali Lookout, I noticed a gas station selling regular unleaded for $5.08 per gallon. In fact, Hawaii’s price was ...
If Cutting The Work Week By 20% Means More Productivity, Why Not Cut It By 50%, Or More?
Should California workers work fewer hours in the work week? Some state lawmakers say yes. Under Assembly Bill 2932, the work week for companies with more than 500 employees would fall to 32 hours. Those working more than eight hours a day and 32 hours in a given week would ...
