Blog
Blog
Torpedoing a Successful Charter School
While the statewide assault on charter schools by politicians in Sacramento has garnered headlines, it is the effort to undermine specific successful local charter schools that really pulls at one’s heartstrings. Take, for example, Willow Creek Academy charter school in Sausalito in Marin County. Willow Creek is a K-8 school ...
Lance Izumi
March 17, 2020
Blog
Will State Budget Be Victim of Coronavirus?
The uncertainty over the coronavirus has negatively impacted the financial markets. Hit the hardest in the short term have been the travel and hospitality industries – with much talk of layoffs, bankruptcies, and industry bailouts. The Dow Jones and Nasdaq have entered bear territory, falling more than 20 percent in ...
Tim Anaya
March 16, 2020
Blog
What We’re Watching – March 13
Tim Anaya – Making the Perfect Irish Soda Bread With all the talk of coronavirus frightening us these days, I think we should focus on things that bring a smile to our faces this weekend, like St. Patrick’s Day. Even though the parades are cancelled, this doesn’t mean that corned ...
Pacific Research Institute
March 13, 2020
Blog
California Assembly Bill 5: An Update
Nearly three dozen bills intended to revise or repeal Assembly Bill 5, which restricts workers’ freedom and could potentially kill the burgeoning gig economy, have been introduced in Sacramento. Here is some of the latest, and most important, news about efforts to smooth over the malign effects of the law: ...
Kerry Jackson
March 12, 2020
Blog
California’s Self-Inflicted Election Day Chaos
If there was one constant in the national media coverage of Super Tuesday, it was criticism of California’s election system. More than one observer commented on the fact that California’s heavy use of vote-by-mail ballots meant that hundreds of thousands of ballots were cast for candidates who had dropped out ...
Tim Anaya
March 11, 2020
Blog
The Pink Tax Hoax
Baby I’ll spill the facts Well honey it ain’t your money ‘Cause baby I got plenty of that I love you for your pink Cadillac. – Bruce Springsteen If you’ve ever admired the gal who managed to steal The Boss’s heart with her pink Cadillac, be advised — even she ...
Rowena Itchon
March 10, 2020
Blog
Do you believe in ‘Miracle March?’
This year marks the 40th Anniversary of the “Miracle on Ice,” one of the biggest upsets in history when the United States hockey team beat the USSR in the semi-final game of the 1980 Winter Olympics. Anyone who watched the Olympics live or saw the 2004 movie Miracle remembers Al ...
Evan Harris
March 9, 2020
Blog
What We’re Watching – The Best of PRI’s 2020 CA Ideas in Action Conference
PRI’s second annual “California Ideas in Action” conference was held a few weeks back. This year’s conference featured PRI scholars, policy experts, and real life changemakers discussing how free market ideas can address the new decade’s major challenges in California – homelessness, the future of work, education, health care, and ...
Pacific Research Institute
March 6, 2020
Blog
Leave the Toy Aisle Alone, Please
As a former legislative staffer in the California State Assembly, I often asked myself when reviewing legislation, “do we really need this bill?” I asked myself the same question when I came across the introduction of a bill mandating gender-neutral toy sections in department stores. Assembly Bill 2826 by Asm. ...
Evan Harris
March 5, 2020
Blog
Enjoy the Silence for Now – Mega Ballot Battles Are Just Around the Corner
That sound you hear this morning is millions of California voters feeling relieved that the primary election is finally over in the Golden State. Many are rejoicing the fact that they won’t have to see any more campaign advertising the next time they turn on their TV or log on ...
Tim Anaya
March 4, 2020
Torpedoing a Successful Charter School
While the statewide assault on charter schools by politicians in Sacramento has garnered headlines, it is the effort to undermine specific successful local charter schools that really pulls at one’s heartstrings. Take, for example, Willow Creek Academy charter school in Sausalito in Marin County. Willow Creek is a K-8 school ...
Will State Budget Be Victim of Coronavirus?
The uncertainty over the coronavirus has negatively impacted the financial markets. Hit the hardest in the short term have been the travel and hospitality industries – with much talk of layoffs, bankruptcies, and industry bailouts. The Dow Jones and Nasdaq have entered bear territory, falling more than 20 percent in ...
What We’re Watching – March 13
Tim Anaya – Making the Perfect Irish Soda Bread With all the talk of coronavirus frightening us these days, I think we should focus on things that bring a smile to our faces this weekend, like St. Patrick’s Day. Even though the parades are cancelled, this doesn’t mean that corned ...
California Assembly Bill 5: An Update
Nearly three dozen bills intended to revise or repeal Assembly Bill 5, which restricts workers’ freedom and could potentially kill the burgeoning gig economy, have been introduced in Sacramento. Here is some of the latest, and most important, news about efforts to smooth over the malign effects of the law: ...
California’s Self-Inflicted Election Day Chaos
If there was one constant in the national media coverage of Super Tuesday, it was criticism of California’s election system. More than one observer commented on the fact that California’s heavy use of vote-by-mail ballots meant that hundreds of thousands of ballots were cast for candidates who had dropped out ...
The Pink Tax Hoax
Baby I’ll spill the facts Well honey it ain’t your money ‘Cause baby I got plenty of that I love you for your pink Cadillac. – Bruce Springsteen If you’ve ever admired the gal who managed to steal The Boss’s heart with her pink Cadillac, be advised — even she ...
Do you believe in ‘Miracle March?’
This year marks the 40th Anniversary of the “Miracle on Ice,” one of the biggest upsets in history when the United States hockey team beat the USSR in the semi-final game of the 1980 Winter Olympics. Anyone who watched the Olympics live or saw the 2004 movie Miracle remembers Al ...
What We’re Watching – The Best of PRI’s 2020 CA Ideas in Action Conference
PRI’s second annual “California Ideas in Action” conference was held a few weeks back. This year’s conference featured PRI scholars, policy experts, and real life changemakers discussing how free market ideas can address the new decade’s major challenges in California – homelessness, the future of work, education, health care, and ...
Leave the Toy Aisle Alone, Please
As a former legislative staffer in the California State Assembly, I often asked myself when reviewing legislation, “do we really need this bill?” I asked myself the same question when I came across the introduction of a bill mandating gender-neutral toy sections in department stores. Assembly Bill 2826 by Asm. ...
Enjoy the Silence for Now – Mega Ballot Battles Are Just Around the Corner
That sound you hear this morning is millions of California voters feeling relieved that the primary election is finally over in the Golden State. Many are rejoicing the fact that they won’t have to see any more campaign advertising the next time they turn on their TV or log on ...