February 1998 PRI Ideas in Action
Policy Update and Monthly Impact Report

PRI continues to impact and shape public policy in California and the nation. The following is a sample of PRI’s work in February.

SALLY PIPES, PRESIDENT & CEO
Sally Pipes, President and CEO of the Pacific Research Institute and Katherine Post, Director of PRI’s Center for Enterprise and Opportunity, were interviewed by Peter Ford on KIEV 870 AM Radio in Los Angeles on February 9. Sally and Katherine discussed the current state of the education debate, women’s issues, and provided analysis on how California’s new welfare reform laws are working.

EVENTS

On February 12, at the Irvine Marriott Hotel, New York Times best-selling author Dinesh D’Souza discussed his new book, Ronald Reagan: How an Ordinary Man Became an Extraordinary Leader, at PRI’s special luncheon honoring Ronald Reagan’s birthday.

PRI hosted an evening reception in honor of The National Congress of Black Conservatives at the Pacific Research Institute headquarters in San Francisco on Saturday, February 21.

CIVIL RIGHTS

Lance Izumi, PRI Senior Fellow and Co-Director of PRI’s Center for Innovation in Education, was interviewed live on Bay Television’s “Take Issue” about race relations in America. (February 11)

Lance was interviewed by the Christian Science Monitor on February 19 for an upcoming story about Asian-American participation in the political process.

EDUCATION

Lance Izumi and Royce Van Tassel’s (PRI Policy Fellow) “School Choice Tax Credit for California?” was cited in the February, 1998 edition of the Heritage Foundation’s The Insider as an important article about education.

Lance Izumi addressed the Silicon Valley’s Tech-Net on February 23 about the new education standards in California.

On February 24 and 25 Royce Van Tassell briefed California State Senator Ray Haynes on the California statewide “95-5” ballot initiative. The information PRI provided prompted Senator Haynes to reverse his support of the measure and to urge his legislative colleagues to do the same. “95-5,” as the measure is known, would prohibit California school districts from accepting competitive bids for capitol construction projects, thereby significantly hindering efforts to reduce K-12 classroom size throughout the state.

HEALTH & WELFARE

Steven Hayward’s (PRI Senior Policy Fellow) article entitled “The Shocking Success of Welfare Reform” appeared in the January/February issue of Policy Review.

PRI Policy Fellow Erin Schiller’s op-ed, “Smoking Up North,” in which she points out that increasing taxes on cigarettes does not reduce the rate of smoking, appeared in the February 11 edition of The Washington Times. The op-ed also appeared on February 18 in the San Diego Union Tribune.

ENVIRONMENT

Sally Pipes and Erin Schiller held a news conference at the California State Capitol on February 24 about PRI’s new study, The Road Ahead: The Economic and Environmental Benefits of Congestion Pricing. Erin was interviewed by Fox Cable-Television News, NBC Television News, ABC Television News, KOVR Television, National Public Radio, KXPR Radio, KXTZ Radio and the Los Angeles Times.

Erin Schiller also appeared on “Air Talk with Larry Mantle” in Los Angeles on February 18, where she discussed PRI’s new study entitled The Road Ahead: The Economic and Environmental Benefits of Congestion Pricing.

NOTABLES

Lloyd Billingsley’s (PRI’s Editorial Director) op-ed entitled “Not Much Right on Amtrak Trip” appeared in the Oakland Tribune on February 26.

Dana Joel, PRI’s Director of Research, was interviewed by Insight Magazine on February 12 about an upcoming article about Vice-President Al Gore’s “Re-Inventing Government” proposal.

Alison Weeks, Administrator of PRI’s San Francisco Independent Scholars Fund, has been appointed by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing to the Cross-Cultural Language Academic Development Review Task Force (CLAD). This statewide task force will examine bilingual education for minority students.

BOOKNOTES

PRI’s book Unconventional Wisdoms: The Best of Warren Brookes, is reviewed in the March edition of The Freeman.

PRI’s book Sovereign Nations or Reservations? An Economic History of American Indians was reviewed in the December, 1997 edition of the Indiana Magazine of History.

Churchill on Leadership: Executive Success in the Face of Adversity by Steven Hayward is now available in Japan.

PRI’s book The Great American Gun Debate: Essays on Firearms and Violence by Don B. Kates was reviewed in the March 2 edition of the American Spectator.