April 2004 PRI Ideas in Action
Policy Update and Monthly Impact Report

Policy Briefing
Currently, California businesses contend with the nation's highest workers’ compensation insurance rates, while workers receive some of the nation’s lowest benefits. Many businesses have left the state, citing workers’ compensation as the main reason. For more than a year, lawmakers have grappled with reform of the state’s 91-year-old system. During this time, PRI’s Business and Economic Studies has been diligently and consistently making the case for reform by authoring studies and opinion pieces, meeting with legislators and interest groups, and giving radio and television interviews. Our efforts have finally paid off.

PRI Perspective
On April 16, 2004, the state legislature overwhelmingly approved a workers' compensation reform package. The bill passed 77-3 in the Assembly, and 33-3 in the Senate. On Monday, April 19, 2004, Governor Schwarzenegger signed the bill into law. It is a huge victory for the businesses and workers of this state and, if strictly interpreted, will result in billions of dollars in savings to the troubled and abuse-ridden system.
Many of the reforms PRI recommended were part of the final bill, including:

• Restructuring the permanent disability rating system along the American Medical Association guidelines for determining physical impairment used by most states.
• Requiring that “apportionment” be considered in the determination of physical impairment, so that employers are only responsible for the portion of the injury they cause.
• Tying the medical-care standard of “cure and relieve” to objective, nationally recognized, and scientifically supported treatment guidelines.
• Reforming the excessive penalty structure so that businesses and insurers don’t have to fear unreasonable fines to investigate questionable claims.

PRI Impact
• April 22-April 29, interview with Andrew Gloger featured on Capitol Counterpoint, a cable television program produced by the Personal Insurance Federation of California, shown on cable channels throughout the state.

• April 23, interview with Lawrence McQuillan featured in LA Weekly

• April 16, Lawrence interviewed on the Roger Hedgecock Radio Show, News Radio 600, KOGO San Diego

Forthcoming Workers’ Compensation Publications

• California Journal, article by Lawrence and Andrew, June 2004

• North Bay Biz, article by Lawrence and Andrew, May 2004

Other Impact

• April 16, op-ed by Andrew on Virgin USA in San Francisco Business Times

• April 14, Andrew testified on the state’s paid family leave law before the California Assembly Insurance Committee

• April 13, PRI released new study, Taxing Times: How California’s Steep Income Tax Stifles Economic Growth

• April 9, op-ed by PRI fellow Benjamin Powell on outsourcing in Silicon Valley Biz Ink

• April 8, Andrew cited in Los Angeles Times

EDUCATION STUDIES KEY ISSUE: SAVING CALIFORNIA’S GOOD REFORMS

Policy Briefing
Although there is much to complain about regarding California’s public education system, the state has enacted some very important reforms. The rigorous academic content standards, the standards-aligned tests and accountability system, and the standards-aligned textbooks and curricula are all critical components to improving California education.

PRI Perspective
There are many forces that would like to get rid of the state’s standards-based reforms. Some would like to eliminate or weaken the state standards either because they oppose them or because they wrongly think that it should be up to local districts to set standards. Others would like to eliminate testing or the accountability system’s rewards and sanctions provisions. Still others would like to go back to the “progressive” curricula that caused many of California’s woes. But without good rigorous standards, there can be no true accountability.

That is why California’s textbooks, testing system and performance rankings are aligned to the state’s standards. Take away the standards and accountability collapses or becomes meaningless. This bears repeating. We want our schools to be accountable. And accountability means knowing how our schools are doing in imparting knowledge based on a common yardstick. The standards are the yardstick.

The standards and the accountability system that has been built on them will help ensure that school districts and schools use any newfound spending discretion, which has been proposed by the governor, to raise the achievement of students rather than squander funds on special-interest concerns.

PRI Impact
• April 27, PRI and the Hoover Institution co-sponsored an education conference at the State Capitol that focused on California’s standards-based reforms. Speakers included PRI education director Lance Izumi, former State Board of Education member Marion Joseph, and Hoover fellows Eric Hanushek and Bill Evers. State Assemblyman Rick Keene introduced the event. Lance discussed the issue of state standards and local fiscal flexibility, plus the effect of the federal No Child Left Behind Act on California standards and teacher quality. The event was attended by legislative staffers and members of the governor’s office. Lance’s remarks are posted on the PRI web site.

• April 30, Californiarepublic.org republished Lance’s Capital Ideas column “California Teacher Quality Masquerade.”

• April 30, Lance gave the keynote speech to the Citizens for Responsible Government.

• April 29, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger officially announced his appointment of Lance to the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges.

• April 23, Lance met with the vice president of industry workforce development for Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) to discuss possible joint PRI-SEMI projects. The meeting came about after SEMI officials read Lance’s Capital Ideas column “The Scary Future.”

• April 16, Lance met with the undersecretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture to discuss the issue of nutritional education.

• April 15, Lance met with staff members from the offices of Assemblyman Ray Haynes and Asssemblyman Doug La Malfa to discuss charter school issues.

• April 13, KQED-FM broadcast Lance’s commentary on how frivolous lawsuits are damaging the states’ economic progress.

• April 9, Californiarepublic.org republished Lance’s Capital Ideas column “Lawsuit Abuse Chokes California Economy.”

• April 9, Lance was interviewed by the Los Angeles Daily News on PRI’s briefing paper “Not College Material.”

• April 5, Lance met with Governor Schwarzenegger’s deputy cabinet secretary to discuss education issues.

TECHNOLOGY STUDIES KEY ISSUE: EMAIL PRIVACY

Policy Briefing
Google is currently beta-testing a new free email service that provides users with a gigabyte of email storage. This plan will be made economically feasible by scanning the content of incoming email and serving content-targeted ads along the side of the email interface. Privacy fundamentalists recently became hysterical over the proposed service and California state senator Liz Figueroa has introduced legislation to constrain it.

PRI Perspective
At first blush, the idea of an email host scanning all incoming mail seems a bit off-putting. But after brief consideration, most people realize that spam filters already scan every message that enters their inbox and unencrypted email is not private in any case. This obvious conclusion should have nipped any controversy in the bud, especially since privacy advocates have not yet made a business of raging against the spam-filter machines. Also, no one is forcing anyone to use Gmail – it is a choice that individual users will make on their own.

PRI Impact
• April 29, Sonia quoted in the New Jersey Star-Ledger on Gmail and privacy

• April 26, Sonia quoted in the Canberra Times (Australia) on Gmail and privacy

• April 26, Sonia's Gmail article discussed on Auren Hoffman's Summation blog

• April 23, Sonia quoted on Gmail and privacy in ZDNet News

• April 23, Sonia quoted on Gmail and privacy in eweek

• April 23, Sonia's column on Gmail ran in Tech News World

• April 23, Sonia spoke on privacy and Gmail at the annual Computers, Freedom, and Privacy conference in Berkeley

• April 23, Sonia quoted on privacy and Gmail in National Journal's Tech Daily

• April 22, Sonia Arrison quoted in Cnet News on Gmail and privacy

OTHER RECENT IMPACT

Environment
On April 21, just before Earth Day, PRI released the ninth edition of the Index of Leading Environmental Indicators by Steven Hayward at a joint press conference with the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, DC. The release launched a massive media campaign that continues to produce print and online coverage.

PRI Impact
• April, Steve Hayward’s “The Earth is Half Full” article featured in the special environment edition of U.S. News and World Report

• April, Steve Hayward heard on over 1,500 radio stations nationwide discussing the Index

• April 28, Steve Hayward interviewed on CNNfn’s “Money & Markets” program

• April 27, Index cited in FoxNews.com editorial

Health Care
• April 26, Sally interviewed on health care benefits by Channel 2 Fox News

• April 15, Sally’s piece on AARP published in Investor’s Business Daily

• April 13, Sally testified on Ortiz Bill at the state capitol

• April 12, Sally testified on AB 1157 Frommer Bill Assembly at the state capitol

• April 8, Sally participated in California Pharmacy Association press conference covered by ABC, NBC, and Fox News

• April 7, Sally Pipes interviewed on drug importation by Al Franken on Air America Today radio program