Blog
Blog
Why High School Graduates Turn Out to Be College Illiterates
Education Week recently pointed out that high school graduates’ “college readiness has reached historic lows, according to several metrics—including the lowest scores in 30 years on the ACT and declining scores on the SAT, the two primary standardized tests used for college admissions.” The ACT measures college readiness in English ...
Blog
Will lawmakers take action to stop human trafficking in California?
The “Safer Streets for All Act” That Isn’t.
In 2022, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), sex worker groups, and Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) joined forces to pass Senate Bill 357, which effectively decriminalized loitering for the purposes of prostitution. Citing statistics from Los Angeles that showed over 50 percent of suspected prostitutes are black, the ACLU ...
Blog
Is California leaving a large amount of tax revenue on the table?
Flavored Tobacco Prohibition Bans Tax Revenues Not Products
Examining state tax revenues and the volume of legal cigarette sales, it appears that the ban has caused cigarette use to decline. As Figure 1 illustrates, the decline in tax paid cigarette sales accelerated in 2023 following the implementation of the ban. Lost sales translate into lost tax revenues for ...
Blog
Failed wildfire policy hikes cities’ housing, energy costs
Failed wildfire policy hikes cities’ housing, energy costs By Kenneth Schrupp | June 7, 2024 Two years of rain have finally ended California’s drought, leaving reservoirs full and hills in bloom. However, the prospect of new growth feeding future wildfires looms over a state where the costs of damage and ...
Blog
Large majority of U.S. minorities live in the suburbs
Figure 1 below shows the share of the major minorities living in either the urban core or the suburbs of the 51 metropolitan areas included in the City Sector Model. It is based on 2015-2019 zip code data and the urban form as defined in Figure 2 (which is independent of ...
Blog
Read latest on state budget debate and climate funding
Would the Sky Fall if Newsom’s Environmental Budget Cuts Are Enacted? Reality Says No.
CalMatters reports that “an array of key climate programs – including efforts to combat rising seas and help low-income Californians buy electric cars – face significant cuts and delays as California seeks to close a $56 billion deficit over the next two fiscal years.” Newsom’s latest proposal is “a 17% ...
Agriculture
Sonoma County Measure Would Put Animal Lives at Risk
There are nearly three times as many laying hens in Sonoma County as there are people. In a testament to the care area poultry farmers give to their livestock, many of the farms are multi-generational members of the county community. Yet, a ballot measure largely funded by animal activist group ...
Blog
Read latest on state budget
The Legislature’s Budget Paints White Roses Red
Consequently, the details released thus far indicate that legislators’ plan for balancing the 2024-25 budget will work on paper only. In practice, budget holes will likely persist for the current fiscal year and taxpayers should expect the budget drama to continue long after the official budget is passed on June ...
Blog
LA shouldn’t abuse ‘historic’ zones to stop new housing
LA shouldn’t abuse ‘historic’ zones to stop new housing by Sal Rodriguez | May 31, 2024 Land-use restrictions and NIMBYism (Not In My Back Yard-ism) come in many forms. One of the more creative is the invoking of “history” as a means of regulating or prohibiting housing some people ...
Blog
SF’s ‘Grand Central Station’ is more like a mausoleum
Advocates for San Francisco’s Transbay Transit Center have never lacked a sense of grandiosity about their goals. “The ability to envision the future and to transform aspirations into reality is what sets leaders apart,” boasted a glossy brochure published by the joint powers authority in charge of the project. “No ...
Why High School Graduates Turn Out to Be College Illiterates
Education Week recently pointed out that high school graduates’ “college readiness has reached historic lows, according to several metrics—including the lowest scores in 30 years on the ACT and declining scores on the SAT, the two primary standardized tests used for college admissions.” The ACT measures college readiness in English ...
Will lawmakers take action to stop human trafficking in California?
The “Safer Streets for All Act” That Isn’t.
In 2022, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), sex worker groups, and Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) joined forces to pass Senate Bill 357, which effectively decriminalized loitering for the purposes of prostitution. Citing statistics from Los Angeles that showed over 50 percent of suspected prostitutes are black, the ACLU ...
Is California leaving a large amount of tax revenue on the table?
Flavored Tobacco Prohibition Bans Tax Revenues Not Products
Examining state tax revenues and the volume of legal cigarette sales, it appears that the ban has caused cigarette use to decline. As Figure 1 illustrates, the decline in tax paid cigarette sales accelerated in 2023 following the implementation of the ban. Lost sales translate into lost tax revenues for ...
Failed wildfire policy hikes cities’ housing, energy costs
Failed wildfire policy hikes cities’ housing, energy costs By Kenneth Schrupp | June 7, 2024 Two years of rain have finally ended California’s drought, leaving reservoirs full and hills in bloom. However, the prospect of new growth feeding future wildfires looms over a state where the costs of damage and ...
Large majority of U.S. minorities live in the suburbs
Figure 1 below shows the share of the major minorities living in either the urban core or the suburbs of the 51 metropolitan areas included in the City Sector Model. It is based on 2015-2019 zip code data and the urban form as defined in Figure 2 (which is independent of ...
Read latest on state budget debate and climate funding
Would the Sky Fall if Newsom’s Environmental Budget Cuts Are Enacted? Reality Says No.
CalMatters reports that “an array of key climate programs – including efforts to combat rising seas and help low-income Californians buy electric cars – face significant cuts and delays as California seeks to close a $56 billion deficit over the next two fiscal years.” Newsom’s latest proposal is “a 17% ...
Sonoma County Measure Would Put Animal Lives at Risk
There are nearly three times as many laying hens in Sonoma County as there are people. In a testament to the care area poultry farmers give to their livestock, many of the farms are multi-generational members of the county community. Yet, a ballot measure largely funded by animal activist group ...
Read latest on state budget
The Legislature’s Budget Paints White Roses Red
Consequently, the details released thus far indicate that legislators’ plan for balancing the 2024-25 budget will work on paper only. In practice, budget holes will likely persist for the current fiscal year and taxpayers should expect the budget drama to continue long after the official budget is passed on June ...
LA shouldn’t abuse ‘historic’ zones to stop new housing
LA shouldn’t abuse ‘historic’ zones to stop new housing by Sal Rodriguez | May 31, 2024 Land-use restrictions and NIMBYism (Not In My Back Yard-ism) come in many forms. One of the more creative is the invoking of “history” as a means of regulating or prohibiting housing some people ...
SF’s ‘Grand Central Station’ is more like a mausoleum
Advocates for San Francisco’s Transbay Transit Center have never lacked a sense of grandiosity about their goals. “The ability to envision the future and to transform aspirations into reality is what sets leaders apart,” boasted a glossy brochure published by the joint powers authority in charge of the project. “No ...
