Wildfires

Blackouts

The problem with government-protected utility monopolies

Just a few months back it was noted that California was suffering through a resurgence of medieval diseases. Another plague of premodern times now threatens to visit the state this summer: darkness. Bloomberg News reported that “California may go dark this summer.” Pacific Gas & Electric plans to cut power ...
Blog

Patricia is Short Because State Government Has Made California Unaffordable

At a recent congressional hearing, freshman Democrat Katie Porter from Orange County took to her soapbox to grill JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon about income inequality at the company. Using the example of Patricia, who is employed as a full-time, entry-level bank teller at JP Morgan Chase – admittedly ...
Blog

CAPITAL IDEAS: California’s Plastic Police Always on The Job

DOWNLOAD THE PDF It was inevitable. California lawmakers’ assault on choice continues in 2019. The plastic-bag ban already in effect is not enough to satisfy their appetite for micromanaging others’ lives. After successfully outlawing single-use plastic bags in grocery stores and other large retailers, with the help of voters in ...
Blog

What We’re Watching – A California for Everyone

Tim Anaya – A California for Everyone At this week’s PRI “California Ideas in Action” conference in Sacramento, we were pleased to be joined by John Gamboa of The Two Hundred and California Community Builders. He spoke of the organization’s efforts challenging abuses of the California Environmental Quality Act that ...
California

California’s Carbon Fixation Allows Lawmakers to Avoid Hard Choices

Sacramento hasn’t yet outlawed gasoline- and diesel-driven automobiles. But it’s on the agenda. In the meantime, the state remains committed to former Gov. Jerry Brown’s goal of flooding California roads with zero-emissions vehicles. The transition, of course, won’t be free. In fact, it could cost as much as $14 billion. ...
Blog

Do We Have a Right to Shelter?

Does everyone by virtue of their existence have a right to shelter? It’s a question the California legislature will consider in 2019. Earlier this month, Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, introduced Senate Bill 48. This Right to Shelter Bill “aims to ensure that homeless individuals and families throughout California have ...
California

Listen to Hon. Dan Kolkey discuss Cal Fire case on Daily Journal “Appellate Report” Podcast

Listen to the Hon. Dan Kolkey, PRI board member and attorney with Gibson Dunn, discuss the closely watched case Cal Fire v. CalPERS and the State of California. The case challenges the ability of state and local governments to adjust future pension benefits for current workers.  PRI has submitted an amicus brief in the case because ...
Blog

What We’re Watching – October 5

Rowena Itchon – Wine Harvests One Year After Devastating Fires It was a year ago when northern California wine growers suffered from devastating wildfires.  But by all accounts, as harvest season nears its end, wine growers are expecting 2018 to be an excellent year.  Here’s a video of a families ...
California

Steven Greenhut – Bail Reform, Bailouts, and Brown’s Legacy . . . Oh My! The 2018 Legislative Session in Review

Steven Greenhut of the R Street Institute shares his thoughts on the just-completed 2018 legislative session and Jerry Brown’s legacy as governor, the second go-around. We discuss wildfire response legislation, bail reform, 100 percent renewable energy mandates, single-payer health care, soda taxes, and other hot issues.
Blog

Kilauea Volcanic Eruptions Spike Pensions for Hawaii’s Emergency Workers

“Pension risk includes lava,” said Keli’i Akina, president of the Grassroot Institute, a sister free-market think tank in Hawaii.  Recently, the Grassroot Institute hosted an event titled “Navigating risk at Hawaii’s public pension system.” Thom Williams, executive director of the Hawaii Employees’ Retirement System (ERS), discussed how unpredictable events such ...
Blackouts

The problem with government-protected utility monopolies

Just a few months back it was noted that California was suffering through a resurgence of medieval diseases. Another plague of premodern times now threatens to visit the state this summer: darkness. Bloomberg News reported that “California may go dark this summer.” Pacific Gas & Electric plans to cut power ...
Blog

Patricia is Short Because State Government Has Made California Unaffordable

At a recent congressional hearing, freshman Democrat Katie Porter from Orange County took to her soapbox to grill JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon about income inequality at the company. Using the example of Patricia, who is employed as a full-time, entry-level bank teller at JP Morgan Chase – admittedly ...
Blog

CAPITAL IDEAS: California’s Plastic Police Always on The Job

DOWNLOAD THE PDF It was inevitable. California lawmakers’ assault on choice continues in 2019. The plastic-bag ban already in effect is not enough to satisfy their appetite for micromanaging others’ lives. After successfully outlawing single-use plastic bags in grocery stores and other large retailers, with the help of voters in ...
Blog

What We’re Watching – A California for Everyone

Tim Anaya – A California for Everyone At this week’s PRI “California Ideas in Action” conference in Sacramento, we were pleased to be joined by John Gamboa of The Two Hundred and California Community Builders. He spoke of the organization’s efforts challenging abuses of the California Environmental Quality Act that ...
California

California’s Carbon Fixation Allows Lawmakers to Avoid Hard Choices

Sacramento hasn’t yet outlawed gasoline- and diesel-driven automobiles. But it’s on the agenda. In the meantime, the state remains committed to former Gov. Jerry Brown’s goal of flooding California roads with zero-emissions vehicles. The transition, of course, won’t be free. In fact, it could cost as much as $14 billion. ...
Blog

Do We Have a Right to Shelter?

Does everyone by virtue of their existence have a right to shelter? It’s a question the California legislature will consider in 2019. Earlier this month, Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, introduced Senate Bill 48. This Right to Shelter Bill “aims to ensure that homeless individuals and families throughout California have ...
California

Listen to Hon. Dan Kolkey discuss Cal Fire case on Daily Journal “Appellate Report” Podcast

Listen to the Hon. Dan Kolkey, PRI board member and attorney with Gibson Dunn, discuss the closely watched case Cal Fire v. CalPERS and the State of California. The case challenges the ability of state and local governments to adjust future pension benefits for current workers.  PRI has submitted an amicus brief in the case because ...
Blog

What We’re Watching – October 5

Rowena Itchon – Wine Harvests One Year After Devastating Fires It was a year ago when northern California wine growers suffered from devastating wildfires.  But by all accounts, as harvest season nears its end, wine growers are expecting 2018 to be an excellent year.  Here’s a video of a families ...
California

Steven Greenhut – Bail Reform, Bailouts, and Brown’s Legacy . . . Oh My! The 2018 Legislative Session in Review

Steven Greenhut of the R Street Institute shares his thoughts on the just-completed 2018 legislative session and Jerry Brown’s legacy as governor, the second go-around. We discuss wildfire response legislation, bail reform, 100 percent renewable energy mandates, single-payer health care, soda taxes, and other hot issues.
Blog

Kilauea Volcanic Eruptions Spike Pensions for Hawaii’s Emergency Workers

“Pension risk includes lava,” said Keli’i Akina, president of the Grassroot Institute, a sister free-market think tank in Hawaii.  Recently, the Grassroot Institute hosted an event titled “Navigating risk at Hawaii’s public pension system.” Thom Williams, executive director of the Hawaii Employees’ Retirement System (ERS), discussed how unpredictable events such ...
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