State Budget
Agriculture
Despite Record Rainfall, California’s Politician-Created Drought Persists
Like most Sacramentans on Sunday, I was out in the pouring rain raking leaves out of the street gutters, trying to keep water from coming into the house during our record day of rainfall. Every year during moderate to heavy storms, I like to joke that I live on “Lake ...
California
How to slow, reverse the California exodus
An unwritten rule of journalism says, “if it bleeds, it leads.” When it comes to the exodus from the Golden State, this rule isn’t being applied. California had been the dream destination for generations and became the most populous state in 1964. But California’s share of the U.S. population peaked ...
California
Would You Buy a Used Electric Car from This Man?
In his last year occupying the governor’s office, Jerry Brown issued an executive order that he said would put 5 million zero-emissions cars on California roads by 2030. Not to be out-virtue-signaled, Gov. Gavin Newsom last year dropped an order on the state that outlaws the sale of new gasoline- ...
Blog
Legislature Comes Back in Session This Week with Lots of Unfinished Business
Today, the Legislature reconvenes for the final month of the 2021 legislative session. For the next four weeks, lawmakers will be on a mad dash to finalize its work before the September 10 deadline. This year’s legislative session can best be described as being overshadowed by events. On last week’s ...
Book
In Advance of Recall Election, New PRI Book Offers Realistic Path to Saving California
Experts Offer Market-Based Solutions on Issues from Health Care to the Economy SACRAMENTO – With the September 14 recall on the horizon, the nonpartisan Pacific Research Institute today released Saving California, a new book offering realistic, market-based reforms to 10 of the state’s major policy challenges. The authors are current ...
Blog
Monday’s Budget Vote Typical of Perhaps Least Open Budget Process in Recent Years
Lawmakers on Monday voted on what’s now commonly referred to as a “Budget Bill Jr.” Since the passage of Prop. 25, which enacted a majority vote budget and docked lawmaker pay if budgets were adopted past June 15, lawmakers have routinely passed on-time budgets to keep getting paid, regardless of ...
Commentary
Biden’s Self-Congratulation Can’t Cover up Obamacare’s Failings
The Biden administration is patting itself on the back for a supposed milestone in American health care. According to a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services, “31 million Americans have health coverage through the Affordable Care Act — a record.” But a closer look at the report reveals ...
Blog
Legislative Democrats Enact Their State Budget Plan – How Will Newsom Respond?
On Wednesday, Legislative Democrats announced a budget “deal” amongst themselves, passing their own 2021-22 state budget plan. Now the ball is in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s court to reach agreement on a final budget before the June 15 constitutional deadline. While the Los Angeles Times notes that “the $267 billion legislative ...
Blog
Newsom’s May Revise Places Big Spending Bet That the Good Times Will Continue to Roll
On Friday, Gov. Newsom unveiled the “May Revise” to his 2021-22 state budget plan, proposing a record $196.8 billion in General Fund spending and $267.8 billion in total spending. Saying that the budget doesn’t “play small ball,” Newsom presented what he called a “generational budget” and “a historic, transformational budget.” ...
Commentary
Government-Sponsored Health Care Roundup: Where The States Stand.
Colorado lawmakers just nixed a bill that would’ve led to the creation of a state-level public health insurance option. Hospitals and doctors argued that their revenues would plummet if a state-run health plan hit the market. The Colorado Hospital Association warned that some of its members would go out of business. That’s not a ...
Despite Record Rainfall, California’s Politician-Created Drought Persists
Like most Sacramentans on Sunday, I was out in the pouring rain raking leaves out of the street gutters, trying to keep water from coming into the house during our record day of rainfall. Every year during moderate to heavy storms, I like to joke that I live on “Lake ...
How to slow, reverse the California exodus
An unwritten rule of journalism says, “if it bleeds, it leads.” When it comes to the exodus from the Golden State, this rule isn’t being applied. California had been the dream destination for generations and became the most populous state in 1964. But California’s share of the U.S. population peaked ...
Would You Buy a Used Electric Car from This Man?
In his last year occupying the governor’s office, Jerry Brown issued an executive order that he said would put 5 million zero-emissions cars on California roads by 2030. Not to be out-virtue-signaled, Gov. Gavin Newsom last year dropped an order on the state that outlaws the sale of new gasoline- ...
Legislature Comes Back in Session This Week with Lots of Unfinished Business
Today, the Legislature reconvenes for the final month of the 2021 legislative session. For the next four weeks, lawmakers will be on a mad dash to finalize its work before the September 10 deadline. This year’s legislative session can best be described as being overshadowed by events. On last week’s ...
In Advance of Recall Election, New PRI Book Offers Realistic Path to Saving California
Experts Offer Market-Based Solutions on Issues from Health Care to the Economy SACRAMENTO – With the September 14 recall on the horizon, the nonpartisan Pacific Research Institute today released Saving California, a new book offering realistic, market-based reforms to 10 of the state’s major policy challenges. The authors are current ...
Monday’s Budget Vote Typical of Perhaps Least Open Budget Process in Recent Years
Lawmakers on Monday voted on what’s now commonly referred to as a “Budget Bill Jr.” Since the passage of Prop. 25, which enacted a majority vote budget and docked lawmaker pay if budgets were adopted past June 15, lawmakers have routinely passed on-time budgets to keep getting paid, regardless of ...
Biden’s Self-Congratulation Can’t Cover up Obamacare’s Failings
The Biden administration is patting itself on the back for a supposed milestone in American health care. According to a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services, “31 million Americans have health coverage through the Affordable Care Act — a record.” But a closer look at the report reveals ...
Legislative Democrats Enact Their State Budget Plan – How Will Newsom Respond?
On Wednesday, Legislative Democrats announced a budget “deal” amongst themselves, passing their own 2021-22 state budget plan. Now the ball is in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s court to reach agreement on a final budget before the June 15 constitutional deadline. While the Los Angeles Times notes that “the $267 billion legislative ...
Newsom’s May Revise Places Big Spending Bet That the Good Times Will Continue to Roll
On Friday, Gov. Newsom unveiled the “May Revise” to his 2021-22 state budget plan, proposing a record $196.8 billion in General Fund spending and $267.8 billion in total spending. Saying that the budget doesn’t “play small ball,” Newsom presented what he called a “generational budget” and “a historic, transformational budget.” ...
Government-Sponsored Health Care Roundup: Where The States Stand.
Colorado lawmakers just nixed a bill that would’ve led to the creation of a state-level public health insurance option. Hospitals and doctors argued that their revenues would plummet if a state-run health plan hit the market. The Colorado Hospital Association warned that some of its members would go out of business. That’s not a ...
