February 1999 PRI Ideas in Action
Policy Update and Monthly Impact Report

PRI continues to impact public policy in California, the nation, and abroad. The following is just a sample of PRI's recent contributions.

Lawmakers Hail PRI Legislators’ Guides

PRI’s Legislators’ Guide to Children’s Issues 1999 received an enthusiastic reception at the Feb. 9 press conference in Washington D.C. Legislators are already hailing the PRI Guide as a much-needed addition to children’s policy issues.

Tom DeLay (R-TX), House Majority Whip, said that PRI’s new publication, "suggests real solutions to programs pertaining to education and child welfare."

The Guide, edited by Naomi Lopez, director of PRI’s Project on Children, charts failed government programs and provides a starting point for policies based on family, civil society, and the free market.

"This guidebook is going to provide new and innovative ideas in the six areas it addresses," said Rep. Todd Tiahrt, Kansas Republican. Roy Blunt, Republican congressman from Missouri, added that the Guide "provides lots of examples of where states can go and of what’s working and how we’d benefit."

C-SPAN gave generous coverage to events surrounding the Guide’s release replaying the press conference several times throughout the week. "I intend to carefully follow research from groups such as the Pacific Research Institute," said Rep. DeLay. Rep. Tiahrt added that "We’ll be working together with groups like the Pacific Research Institute."

Legislators in Sacramento welcomed PRI’s California Legislators’ Guide, which draws on PRI’s research in education, the environment, health care, welfare, technology, and other key policy issues.

On Feb. 23 PRI hosted a reception at the Hyatt Regency in Sacramento for the release of the Guide which was attended by Assemblymen Howard Kaloogian and Steve Baldwin along with other legislators and staffers. PRI plans to update the publication annually.

Newsweeklies Turn to PRI

Major daily newspapers have always been receptive to Pacific Research material, a record that is now attracting the prestigious newsweeklies. With 1999 just over two months old PRI has been quoted in The Economist, U.S. News and World Report, and Newsweek. Additionally, Time magazine recently interviewed PRI President Sally Pipes.

Education

PRI’s policy breakfast in Sacramento on February 9, directed by Lance Izumi, co-director of PRI’s Center for School Reform, drew a full house of legislative staffers from both parties, including Sue Blake, (Republican Senator Maurice Johannessen,) Brad Lee Strong (Democratic Assemblyman Ted Lempert), Jemahl Amen (Democratic Assemblyman Herb Wesson), Stacey Smith (Republican Senator Richard Rainey,) Alexandra Montgomery-Day (Democratic Senator Joe Dunn), Julie Mougette (Republican Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian), and Everett Rice, Greg Maw and James Thomas from the office of Republican Senator Ray Haynes. Lance addressed the bipartisan group on peer review and teacher accountability. The PRI policy breakfasts are a monthly feature in the California capital.

Lance’s February 9 KQED commentary on National Public Radio dealt with the failed history of teacher peer-review programs. Debra Saunders of the San Francisco Chronicle quoted Lance on the subject of educational tests in her February 14 column.

Environment

On Feb. 5 Erin Schiller discussed PRI’s Index of Leading Environmental Indicators, the Endangered Species Act, recycling, and other issues in an interview with Mary Sterrit on KPDQ radio in Portland. "Personal Responsibility is Going Up in Smoke," Erin’s op-ed on the Philip Morris case ran in the Orange County Register on Feb. 17.

Center for Freedom and Technology

"How Encryption Policy Stymies E-Commerce," by Justin Matlick, director of PRI’s Center for Freedom and Technology, appeared in Investor’s Business Daily on Feb. 18 1999.

Civil Rights

PRI has responded to the UC faculty’s plan, endorsed by Governor Gray Davis, to admit to the University of California the top 4 percent of each high-school’s graduating class, a scheme many see as an attempt to circumvent the UC ban on race-based admissions.

"2-Track Admission Is the Wrong Track," by PRI President Sally Pipes, appeared in the Los Angeles Times on February 28. On February 18, Lance Izumi testified about the plan to the UC Board of Regents and on February 9 told Investor’s Business Daily that the plan would reduce UC’s graduation rates and increase the need for remedial instruction. The 4%- plan was also the subject of interviews with Lance in the February 11 Orange County Register and the Feb 1. "Gordon Duffy Show" on KKLA-FM in Los Angeles.

Events

On Feb. 16 PRI held a press conference at the State Capitol to release its new study Developing and Implementing Academic Standards: A Template for Legislative and Policy Reform authored by Lance Izumi. State Senator Ray Haynes told the media he was introducing a package of three bills based on the PRI study. The Feb. 17 Riverside Press-Enterprise gave generous coverage to the standards template in "Haynes Education Package Includes Plan for Vouchers," by Sam Delson.

Health and Welfare

On February 16, Mark Schiller, M.D., PRI Senior Fellow in Health Care Studies, testified to the California Assembly’s Select Committee on Mental Health and the Senate Select Committee on Developmental Disabilities and Mental Health. The hearings dealt with the criminalization of the untreated mentally ill. Press coverage mentioned Dr. Schiller’s testimony and noted that a state task force had used Corrections, Criminal Justice, and the Mentally Ill: Some Observations about Costs in California, a PRI study published in 1996.