Blog
Blog
Demystifying RHNA: A Guide for the Perplexed Californian
The state of California is in the midst of a Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) cycle. It happens every eight years, and with the sixth cycle currently underway, you’ve no doubt seen headlines about it. For the uninitiated, it probably seems like an alphabet soup of bureaucracy. What exactly is ...
M. Nolan Gray
July 21, 2021
Blog
When Public Policy Is Predatory
The same city that requires employers to pay workers at least $16.32 an hour, far more than twice the federal minimum wage, also limits how much some businesses can charge for their services. It’s enough to send some companies seeking relief from the court system. Two have done just that. ...
Kerry Jackson
July 20, 2021
Blog
More Mixed Messaging from Newsom Complicates Vaccination Push
Mixed messaging continues to be a problem for the Newsom administration in its efforts to get more Californians to get vaccinated. Right now, roughly 61 percent of Californians are fully vaccinated, complicating efforts to reach its 70 percent plus goal for herd immunity. The problem is perilous for Newsom on ...
Tim Anaya
July 19, 2021
Blog
Newsom Takes First Steps to Stop Fracking in California
Fracking is being phased out in California. Not for any rational reason. The process of hydraulic fracturing to extract oil and gas is in part responsible for the long-term drop in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. But because fracking has been vilified by the green lobby, it therefore must be banished ...
Kerry Jackson
July 16, 2021
Blog
Victory for Free Speech: AFP v. Bonta
After six years and no less than three amici filed by PRI, we are gratified that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Americans’ First Amendment right to make donations to charities such as PRI. The Court struck down as facially unconstitutional the California Attorney General’s requirement that charities disclose the identities ...
Rowena Itchon
July 15, 2021
Blog
George Lucas, Reluctant YIMBY?
The wages of California city planning spare no man—not even George Lucas. As recently as late 2020, the filmmaker sued the California town of San Anselmo to clear up a “surveying error” that may revert a portion of his property to the heirs of its 1920s owners. It’s a trivial ...
M. Nolan Gray
July 14, 2021
Blog
Will SALT Cap Dilemma Thwart Biden’s Big Spending Plans?
The latest Washington buzz has the Senate likely voting on the bipartisan infrastructure deal and the federal budget resolution that will fuel President Biden’s big spending plans by sometime in August. But the debate over the repeal of the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap threatens to be the ...
Tim Anaya
July 13, 2021
Blog
President Reagan’s Famous Line Aptly Describes Governor Newsom’s Electric Vehicle Subsidies
Paraphrasing President Reagan, “California’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.” In this case, Governor Newsom wants electric vehicles to move – both literally and figuratively. ...
Wayne Winegarden
July 12, 2021
Blog
The Bullet Train’s Twin Rails Of Doom
The Golden State’s high-speed rail project, moving slower than a handcar and carrying fewer passengers, seems to be losing the popularity it once enjoyed. On the same day the Legislature passed a budget with no money for the bullet train, we learned that more Californians would prefer to shut it ...
Kerry Jackson
July 9, 2021
Blog
Been There, Done That on Costly Subsidies for the Rich
President Biden has proposed $174 billion in federal electric car subsidies, which research shows have been little more than giveaways to wealthy car buyers. California Has “Been There, Done That” California is one of the nation’s leaders in offering taxpayer-funded subsidies to purchase new electric cars. State tax credits ...
Pacific Research Institute
July 8, 2021
Demystifying RHNA: A Guide for the Perplexed Californian
The state of California is in the midst of a Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) cycle. It happens every eight years, and with the sixth cycle currently underway, you’ve no doubt seen headlines about it. For the uninitiated, it probably seems like an alphabet soup of bureaucracy. What exactly is ...
When Public Policy Is Predatory
The same city that requires employers to pay workers at least $16.32 an hour, far more than twice the federal minimum wage, also limits how much some businesses can charge for their services. It’s enough to send some companies seeking relief from the court system. Two have done just that. ...
More Mixed Messaging from Newsom Complicates Vaccination Push
Mixed messaging continues to be a problem for the Newsom administration in its efforts to get more Californians to get vaccinated. Right now, roughly 61 percent of Californians are fully vaccinated, complicating efforts to reach its 70 percent plus goal for herd immunity. The problem is perilous for Newsom on ...
Newsom Takes First Steps to Stop Fracking in California
Fracking is being phased out in California. Not for any rational reason. The process of hydraulic fracturing to extract oil and gas is in part responsible for the long-term drop in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. But because fracking has been vilified by the green lobby, it therefore must be banished ...
Victory for Free Speech: AFP v. Bonta
After six years and no less than three amici filed by PRI, we are gratified that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Americans’ First Amendment right to make donations to charities such as PRI. The Court struck down as facially unconstitutional the California Attorney General’s requirement that charities disclose the identities ...
George Lucas, Reluctant YIMBY?
The wages of California city planning spare no man—not even George Lucas. As recently as late 2020, the filmmaker sued the California town of San Anselmo to clear up a “surveying error” that may revert a portion of his property to the heirs of its 1920s owners. It’s a trivial ...
Will SALT Cap Dilemma Thwart Biden’s Big Spending Plans?
The latest Washington buzz has the Senate likely voting on the bipartisan infrastructure deal and the federal budget resolution that will fuel President Biden’s big spending plans by sometime in August. But the debate over the repeal of the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap threatens to be the ...
President Reagan’s Famous Line Aptly Describes Governor Newsom’s Electric Vehicle Subsidies
Paraphrasing President Reagan, “California’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.” In this case, Governor Newsom wants electric vehicles to move – both literally and figuratively. ...
The Bullet Train’s Twin Rails Of Doom
The Golden State’s high-speed rail project, moving slower than a handcar and carrying fewer passengers, seems to be losing the popularity it once enjoyed. On the same day the Legislature passed a budget with no money for the bullet train, we learned that more Californians would prefer to shut it ...
Been There, Done That on Costly Subsidies for the Rich
President Biden has proposed $174 billion in federal electric car subsidies, which research shows have been little more than giveaways to wealthy car buyers. California Has “Been There, Done That” California is one of the nation’s leaders in offering taxpayer-funded subsidies to purchase new electric cars. State tax credits ...