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Is Coronavirus Triggering De-Facto Early Release for Thousands of Offenders?

In recent years, California has undergone a significant change in its approach to criminal justice. As PRI’s Kerry Jackson writes in his book, Living in Fear in California, once California’s prison population reached an all-time high of 160,000 in 2006, “a May 2011 U.S. Supreme Court ruling . . . ...
Blog

Just Because You Can Doesn’t Mean You Should

Public banks, it seems, are the next wrongheaded progressive movement in state overrun with them. The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors voted last month “to reach out to nearby jurisdictions proposing a viability study, the first step in the creation of a public bank” the Monterey County Weekly has ...
Blog

What We’re Watching – Larry David Says Stay Home and Watch TV

Tim Anaya – Nothing Good Ever Happens Outside The House Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a huge fan of Larry David and “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”  This is ironic because I’ve never watched an episode of “Seinfeld” in my life (perhaps I prefer the real thing).  To address the ...
Blog

Not Even The Threat Of Spreading COVID-19 Can Change California’s Plastic Bag Ban

While several states are rethinking their single-use plastic bag bans for health reasons during the COVID-19 pandemic, California, which led the nation down the misguided path to prohibition, has yet to act. It should have been the first to suspend its ban. But here we wait while other states are ...
Blog

Amidst Coronavirus-Fueled Economic Downturn, State Leaders Must Suspend Government Barriers to Opportunity

In his “Breaking Down Barriers to Opportunity” series, PRI’s Dr. Wayne Winegarden has argued that one of the most important ways that elected officials can help to lift people up the economy ladder is by embracing policies that encourage entrepreneurship. As many Californians struggle to stay afloat financially during the ...
Blog

“90% Great”

That’s what Pres. Trump said in a tweet on the record-shattering $2 trillion phase 3 stimulus package. Right by the Bay doesn’t question the need for government to step up to help the economy get through the coronavirus pandemic.  But even during this crisis, the swamp continues to gurgle over.  ...
Blog

Single Payer Poll Watch: Coronavirus Update

Coronavirus is impacting everything and anything it touches. In the March PRI Single Payer Poll Watch, average opposition to a single payer plan overtook support, continuing the trend of growing opposition to a single payer health care plan PRI noticed in our first poll watch in December 2019. With the ...
Blog

What We’re Watching – March 27

Tim Anaya – Escape the Drug Pricing Maze Watch Professor Salvare guide Pete Paystoomuch through the drug pricing maze, showing how the direction policymakers take on drug pricing policy could impact the affordability and availability of current medicines, and innovation that could lead to future, life-saving cures. Ben Smithwick – ...
Blog

How State Budget Will Be Impacted by Coronavirus Coming More into Focus

A clearer picture formed this week about how the coronavirus will affect the state budget, with action in Sacramento and Washington. Director of Finance Keely Bosler sent a letter to lawmakers that the department will “reevaluate all budget changes within the context of a workload budget.” “While our first priority ...
Blog

What a Difference a State Makes: The Future of Charter Schools in California vs. Arizona

While Governor Gavin Newsom and the Democrat-supermajority in the Legislature effectively eliminated most charter-school expansion in California, the charter school landscape is much different in neighboring Arizona. When Governor Newsom signed the anti-charter-school-expansion bill into law last year, his office said that new charter schools will likely not open in ...
Blog

Is Coronavirus Triggering De-Facto Early Release for Thousands of Offenders?

In recent years, California has undergone a significant change in its approach to criminal justice. As PRI’s Kerry Jackson writes in his book, Living in Fear in California, once California’s prison population reached an all-time high of 160,000 in 2006, “a May 2011 U.S. Supreme Court ruling . . . ...
Blog

Just Because You Can Doesn’t Mean You Should

Public banks, it seems, are the next wrongheaded progressive movement in state overrun with them. The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors voted last month “to reach out to nearby jurisdictions proposing a viability study, the first step in the creation of a public bank” the Monterey County Weekly has ...
Blog

What We’re Watching – Larry David Says Stay Home and Watch TV

Tim Anaya – Nothing Good Ever Happens Outside The House Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a huge fan of Larry David and “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”  This is ironic because I’ve never watched an episode of “Seinfeld” in my life (perhaps I prefer the real thing).  To address the ...
Blog

Not Even The Threat Of Spreading COVID-19 Can Change California’s Plastic Bag Ban

While several states are rethinking their single-use plastic bag bans for health reasons during the COVID-19 pandemic, California, which led the nation down the misguided path to prohibition, has yet to act. It should have been the first to suspend its ban. But here we wait while other states are ...
Blog

Amidst Coronavirus-Fueled Economic Downturn, State Leaders Must Suspend Government Barriers to Opportunity

In his “Breaking Down Barriers to Opportunity” series, PRI’s Dr. Wayne Winegarden has argued that one of the most important ways that elected officials can help to lift people up the economy ladder is by embracing policies that encourage entrepreneurship. As many Californians struggle to stay afloat financially during the ...
Blog

“90% Great”

That’s what Pres. Trump said in a tweet on the record-shattering $2 trillion phase 3 stimulus package. Right by the Bay doesn’t question the need for government to step up to help the economy get through the coronavirus pandemic.  But even during this crisis, the swamp continues to gurgle over.  ...
Blog

Single Payer Poll Watch: Coronavirus Update

Coronavirus is impacting everything and anything it touches. In the March PRI Single Payer Poll Watch, average opposition to a single payer plan overtook support, continuing the trend of growing opposition to a single payer health care plan PRI noticed in our first poll watch in December 2019. With the ...
Blog

What We’re Watching – March 27

Tim Anaya – Escape the Drug Pricing Maze Watch Professor Salvare guide Pete Paystoomuch through the drug pricing maze, showing how the direction policymakers take on drug pricing policy could impact the affordability and availability of current medicines, and innovation that could lead to future, life-saving cures. Ben Smithwick – ...
Blog

How State Budget Will Be Impacted by Coronavirus Coming More into Focus

A clearer picture formed this week about how the coronavirus will affect the state budget, with action in Sacramento and Washington. Director of Finance Keely Bosler sent a letter to lawmakers that the department will “reevaluate all budget changes within the context of a workload budget.” “While our first priority ...
Blog

What a Difference a State Makes: The Future of Charter Schools in California vs. Arizona

While Governor Gavin Newsom and the Democrat-supermajority in the Legislature effectively eliminated most charter-school expansion in California, the charter school landscape is much different in neighboring Arizona. When Governor Newsom signed the anti-charter-school-expansion bill into law last year, his office said that new charter schools will likely not open in ...
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