California
Agriculture
Farmers and Ranchers – The Unsung Heroes of 2021
What do evergreen trees, ham, turkey, eggnog, and champagne all have in common? The holidays, yes, but also America’s agriculture — most notably the great agricultural states of the West. Let’s start with Thanksgiving dinner. Our colleague Pam Lewison of the Washington Policy Center, and a farmer herself, recalls growing ...
Commentary
A Disastrous Year In Federal Healthcare Spending
For current and future taxpayers, 2021 was a brutal year—at least when it comes to healthcare spending. Congress and the Biden administration approved tens of billions in new expenditures. Much of that money was, or will be, wasted on inefficient programs and subsidies that do little to improve the quality ...
Commentary
Build Back Better’s bad healthcare provisions
With Sen. Joe Manchin saying he won’t vote for the Build Back Better Act, at least in the bill’s current form, Democrats are scrambling to revise the bill. Patients and taxpayers can only hope they fail. The bill is packed with disastrous healthcare policies. For instance, Build Back Better would ...
Blog
Time to Cut Gas Taxes?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced earlier this month that energy prices in the U.S. rose 33 percent for the 12 months ending November. In many regions of California, prices rose even higher. In the L.A.-Long Beach-Anaheim region, energy prices jumped 35 percent. In the Inland Empire, prices shot up ...
California
Reform Misguided Laws, Don’t Raise Minimum Wage, to Address California’s High Cost of Living
California isn’t yet finished hiking the minimum wage from the last bill that increased it to $15 an hour starting in 2023 for all businesses, and now comes another proposal to move it to $18. Imagine the response from companies struggling to keep up with current payrolls when they hear ...
Blog
Cadiz Water Project a Victim of Can’t Do/Won’t Do California
An innovative project to squeeze water from the desert to help quench perpetually thirsty Southern California showed some promise – until the Biden administration decided to halt the plans. The courts might rule against the White House, but for now it looks just like another day in Can’t Do/Won’t Do ...
Agriculture
Will the Supreme Court overrule California’s Proposition 12?
By The Hon. Daniel Oliver History repeats itself in California with a law that may prevent pork from being imported into the state. In 1986 and ’87 when I was Chairman of the Federal Commission, I (actually “we” at the FTC) took on then-New York State Agriculture Commissioner Joseph Gerace ...
Blog
Is Gann Limit Next Item on Budget Chopping Block?
Last week, I wrote about the “key values” put forward by Senate Democrats for their approach to the 2022-23 state budget process. Assembly Democrats quickly followed up by releasing their own “budget blueprint,” which like their Senate counterparts, would spend the state’s budget surplus largely on new and expanded government ...
California
PRI All-Stars – 2021 Year-End Awards
PRI’s All-Stars are back for the annual year-end rewards: Panelists include Kerry Jackson, Fellow at PRI’s Center for California Reform; Tim Anaya, Senior Director of Communications; Lance Izumi, Senior Director of Education; and Rowena Itchon, Senior Vice President.
Commentary
Despite What the White House Says, Obamacare Is Deeply Troubled
Open enrollment on Obamacare’s health insurance exchanges is in full swing. Consumers in most states, including the 33 that use the federally operated HealthCare.gov, have until Jan. 15 to sign up for coverage for 2022. The Biden administration says things have never been better, and that premiums are declining, more insurers ...
Farmers and Ranchers – The Unsung Heroes of 2021
What do evergreen trees, ham, turkey, eggnog, and champagne all have in common? The holidays, yes, but also America’s agriculture — most notably the great agricultural states of the West. Let’s start with Thanksgiving dinner. Our colleague Pam Lewison of the Washington Policy Center, and a farmer herself, recalls growing ...
A Disastrous Year In Federal Healthcare Spending
For current and future taxpayers, 2021 was a brutal year—at least when it comes to healthcare spending. Congress and the Biden administration approved tens of billions in new expenditures. Much of that money was, or will be, wasted on inefficient programs and subsidies that do little to improve the quality ...
Build Back Better’s bad healthcare provisions
With Sen. Joe Manchin saying he won’t vote for the Build Back Better Act, at least in the bill’s current form, Democrats are scrambling to revise the bill. Patients and taxpayers can only hope they fail. The bill is packed with disastrous healthcare policies. For instance, Build Back Better would ...
Time to Cut Gas Taxes?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced earlier this month that energy prices in the U.S. rose 33 percent for the 12 months ending November. In many regions of California, prices rose even higher. In the L.A.-Long Beach-Anaheim region, energy prices jumped 35 percent. In the Inland Empire, prices shot up ...
Reform Misguided Laws, Don’t Raise Minimum Wage, to Address California’s High Cost of Living
California isn’t yet finished hiking the minimum wage from the last bill that increased it to $15 an hour starting in 2023 for all businesses, and now comes another proposal to move it to $18. Imagine the response from companies struggling to keep up with current payrolls when they hear ...
Cadiz Water Project a Victim of Can’t Do/Won’t Do California
An innovative project to squeeze water from the desert to help quench perpetually thirsty Southern California showed some promise – until the Biden administration decided to halt the plans. The courts might rule against the White House, but for now it looks just like another day in Can’t Do/Won’t Do ...
Will the Supreme Court overrule California’s Proposition 12?
By The Hon. Daniel Oliver History repeats itself in California with a law that may prevent pork from being imported into the state. In 1986 and ’87 when I was Chairman of the Federal Commission, I (actually “we” at the FTC) took on then-New York State Agriculture Commissioner Joseph Gerace ...
Is Gann Limit Next Item on Budget Chopping Block?
Last week, I wrote about the “key values” put forward by Senate Democrats for their approach to the 2022-23 state budget process. Assembly Democrats quickly followed up by releasing their own “budget blueprint,” which like their Senate counterparts, would spend the state’s budget surplus largely on new and expanded government ...
PRI All-Stars – 2021 Year-End Awards
PRI’s All-Stars are back for the annual year-end rewards: Panelists include Kerry Jackson, Fellow at PRI’s Center for California Reform; Tim Anaya, Senior Director of Communications; Lance Izumi, Senior Director of Education; and Rowena Itchon, Senior Vice President.
Despite What the White House Says, Obamacare Is Deeply Troubled
Open enrollment on Obamacare’s health insurance exchanges is in full swing. Consumers in most states, including the 33 that use the federally operated HealthCare.gov, have until Jan. 15 to sign up for coverage for 2022. The Biden administration says things have never been better, and that premiums are declining, more insurers ...
