Blog
Blog
Lessons from New Mexico Show How Fracking Moratorium Could Harm California’s Economy
During the heated Vice-Presidential Debate, Vice President Mike Pence charged that a Biden-Harris Administration planned to ban the practice of fracking altogether. Then-Senator Kamala Harris said in response that no such plans existed. At stake were thousands of key votes of gas and oil workers from the heartland and key ...
McKenzie Richards
February 16, 2021
Blog
How About A Train Check?
It’s a myth that Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini made the trains run on time. It’s no exaggeration, though, to say California can’t even make its bullet train run at all. The California high-speed rail has been delayed again. The first section, 119 miles through the Central Valley between Bakersfield ...
Kerry Jackson
February 15, 2021
Blog
Winners and Losers – February 12
Tim Anaya, Senior Director of Communications and PRI’s Sacramento Office Winner: Sacramento Diners – Fans of the Sacramento restaurant Biba, which closed last spring amidst the Covid-19 pandemic and following the death of Biba Caggiano, its legendary chef and proprietor, cheered this week’s news that its former executive chef and ...
Pacific Research Institute
February 12, 2021
Blog
What’s in Senator Klobuchar’s Antitrust Bill?
One of the big policy stories coming out of Congress is Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar’s introduction of the Competition and Antitrust Law Enforcement Reform Act, a broad measure aimed at strengthening antitrust regulation in the United States. What’s noticeably absent, but obviously implied in Sen. Klobuchar’s bill, is the target. ...
Evan Harris
February 11, 2021
Blog
President Biden’s Stimulus Will Harm The Economy Long-term With No Short-term Benefits
The argument for an economic stimulus seems persuasive. The economy contracted 3.5 percent in 2020, which is the largest annual decline in the national economy since 1946. The latest employment numbers, which were a disappointment to many, seem to further confirm the urgent need for Congress to immediately pass a ...
Wayne Winegarden
February 10, 2021
Blog
California’s Winter of Discontent
It comes as no surprise that a recent Gallup poll showed that Americans now believe that the biggest problem in the country are its politicians (29 percent), not the pandemic (22 percent). While tens of millions are frustratingly looking for a COVID-19 vaccine, the Biden Administration is busy fighting climate ...
Rowena Itchon
February 9, 2021
Blog
Businesses To Bear The Burden Of Another Government Mandate, Part II
Last month we covered the story of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors deciding it was within the scope of their duties to reward pandemic “front-line” workers with other people’s money. As we noted then, Long Beach was considering a similar mandate, which it eventually approved. Yes, some workers ...
Kerry Jackson
February 8, 2021
Blog
Winners and Losers – February 5
Tim Anaya, Senior Director of Communications and PRI’s Sacramento Office Winner: Liz Cheney – Moviegoers who watched 2018 film “Vice” – which the filmmakers intended to be a hatchet job, but I thought was actually superhero movie – learned not to mess with Dick Cheney or his family. However critical ...
Pacific Research Institute
February 5, 2021
Blog
Should California Legislative Staff Be Unionized?
California is struggling with its Covid-19 recovery efforts. More than 941,000 people are still waiting for their Covid unemployment benefit claims to be processed. A recent San Francisco Chronicle headline proclaimed, “Newsom’s $2 billion plan to reopen California schools fizzles.” California now ranks dead last in vaccine distribution according to ...
Tim Anaya
February 4, 2021
Blog
Would Massive Tax Hike “Actually Permanently End Homelessness”?
Sacramento might decide this year if it will hike corporate tax rates to raise up to $2.4 billion annually to fund homelessness programs. Would such an effort work? Not everyone is sold on it. First, some brief background. Assembly Bill 71, the Bring California Home Act, would increase tax rates, ...
Kerry Jackson
February 3, 2021
Lessons from New Mexico Show How Fracking Moratorium Could Harm California’s Economy
During the heated Vice-Presidential Debate, Vice President Mike Pence charged that a Biden-Harris Administration planned to ban the practice of fracking altogether. Then-Senator Kamala Harris said in response that no such plans existed. At stake were thousands of key votes of gas and oil workers from the heartland and key ...
How About A Train Check?
It’s a myth that Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini made the trains run on time. It’s no exaggeration, though, to say California can’t even make its bullet train run at all. The California high-speed rail has been delayed again. The first section, 119 miles through the Central Valley between Bakersfield ...
Winners and Losers – February 12
Tim Anaya, Senior Director of Communications and PRI’s Sacramento Office Winner: Sacramento Diners – Fans of the Sacramento restaurant Biba, which closed last spring amidst the Covid-19 pandemic and following the death of Biba Caggiano, its legendary chef and proprietor, cheered this week’s news that its former executive chef and ...
What’s in Senator Klobuchar’s Antitrust Bill?
One of the big policy stories coming out of Congress is Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar’s introduction of the Competition and Antitrust Law Enforcement Reform Act, a broad measure aimed at strengthening antitrust regulation in the United States. What’s noticeably absent, but obviously implied in Sen. Klobuchar’s bill, is the target. ...
President Biden’s Stimulus Will Harm The Economy Long-term With No Short-term Benefits
The argument for an economic stimulus seems persuasive. The economy contracted 3.5 percent in 2020, which is the largest annual decline in the national economy since 1946. The latest employment numbers, which were a disappointment to many, seem to further confirm the urgent need for Congress to immediately pass a ...
California’s Winter of Discontent
It comes as no surprise that a recent Gallup poll showed that Americans now believe that the biggest problem in the country are its politicians (29 percent), not the pandemic (22 percent). While tens of millions are frustratingly looking for a COVID-19 vaccine, the Biden Administration is busy fighting climate ...
Businesses To Bear The Burden Of Another Government Mandate, Part II
Last month we covered the story of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors deciding it was within the scope of their duties to reward pandemic “front-line” workers with other people’s money. As we noted then, Long Beach was considering a similar mandate, which it eventually approved. Yes, some workers ...
Winners and Losers – February 5
Tim Anaya, Senior Director of Communications and PRI’s Sacramento Office Winner: Liz Cheney – Moviegoers who watched 2018 film “Vice” – which the filmmakers intended to be a hatchet job, but I thought was actually superhero movie – learned not to mess with Dick Cheney or his family. However critical ...
Should California Legislative Staff Be Unionized?
California is struggling with its Covid-19 recovery efforts. More than 941,000 people are still waiting for their Covid unemployment benefit claims to be processed. A recent San Francisco Chronicle headline proclaimed, “Newsom’s $2 billion plan to reopen California schools fizzles.” California now ranks dead last in vaccine distribution according to ...
Would Massive Tax Hike “Actually Permanently End Homelessness”?
Sacramento might decide this year if it will hike corporate tax rates to raise up to $2.4 billion annually to fund homelessness programs. Would such an effort work? Not everyone is sold on it. First, some brief background. Assembly Bill 71, the Bring California Home Act, would increase tax rates, ...