July 2000
Editor: K. Lloyd Billingsley

PRI continues to impact public policy in California, the nation, and abroad. The following is a sample of PRI’s influence in July 2000.

Freedom and Technology

Sonia Arrison, director of PRI’s Center for Freedom and Technology, discussed Internet privacy and digital signatures with California Attorney General Bill Lockyer at a June 30 event in Sacramento. Sonia was quoted by Timothy Low in a July 11 This is IT article “Dumping online taxes, a boon for all?” The July 13 Wired News cited Sonia in “GOP Wants No Net Bets,” and made her the quote of the day on Wired’s front-page “Quote Marks.” At the State Policy Network Western Regional Conference in Palo Alto on July 22, Sonia discussed Internet privacy. The technology panel included Declan McCullagh from Wired News, Grover Norquist from Americans for Tax Reform, and Mariana Parks from Microsoft. Sonia also introduced Gary Downing from Sun Microsystems as the keynote dinner speaker.

“The Music Industry Could Learn from Web Pirates,” by PRI Fellow Justin Matlick, was distributed by Bridge News, appeared on CNNfm.com on July 8, and was published in the Savannah Morning News.

Education

U.S. News and World Report interviewed Lance Izumi, director of PRI’s Center for School Reform, about Proposition 38, California’s school-choice ballot initiative, on July 31. Lance wrote “Voters’ orders ignored in education ranks,” published in the July 3 San Francisco Business Times. He spoke to the California School Board Leadership Council semi-annual conference in Monterey, and the Monterey County Herald interviewed Lance on July 14 about problems in the state’s standardized testing system. On July 17, Diablo Magazine interviewed Lance on school-choice, accountability, and student achievement. The Orange County Register quoted Lance in “Educational atrophy,” a July 7 editorial, and cited him on the subject of state test scores on July 18. The Register also quoted Lance on July 19 in “Righting the ship in public education.” Lance spoke on teacher training at the State Policy Network conference on July 22.

PRI’s “Failing Grade: Crisis and Reform in the Oakland Unified School District” was quoted in the July 14 Oakland Tribune, in “Oakland Schools Rank Low in Study” by Tim Schoonenberg. The Associated Press interviewed “Failing Grade” author Gwynne Coburn about the study on July 28, and the resulting stories ran in several newspapers, including the San Francisco Chronicle. Also on July 28, the Orange County Register published “The Union Label” about California Governor Gray Davis’s ties to teacher unions, by PRI Editorial Director Lloyd Billingsley. A July 14 Sacramento Bee editorial cited the Pacific Research Institute on education.

 

Environment

Steven Hayward, director of PRI’s Center for Environmental and Regulatory Reform, discussed sprawl and a broad range of environmental issues at the State Policy Network conference. Lloyd Billingsley’s “Drivers get lost in California’s smoggy bureaucracy” appeared in the San Francisco Business Times on July 10. PRI data on car emissions were cited in “Pull Plug on Testing,” in the July 4 Republican-American (Waterbury, CT). The Heartland Institute’s Environment & Climate News featured Pacific Research Institute data in a briefing book on land set aside for parks and wildlife. PRI’s The Road Ahead: The Economic and Environmental Benefits of Congestion Pricing, by Erin Schiller, was cited by the Arizona Republic in a June 23 editorial “A helpful list of books you can grow with.”

Enterprise and Opportunity

Naomi Lopez Bauman, director of PRI’s Center for Enterprise and Opportunity, outlined why the United States should not seek a Canadian-style health care system in her luncheon address at the July 22 State Policy Network meeting. “San Francisco’s mean streets get bad rap,” by PRI Fellow Joelle Cowan, appeared in the July 21–27 San Francisco Business Times.

Sally C. Pipes’s Investor’s Business Daily Brain Trust column, “Medicare Payments to Managed Care Leave Elderly Without Drug Plans,” appeared on July 25.

Events

Director of Marketing and Public Affairs, Dawn Dingwell, and Sonia Arrison represented PRI at the annual National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), in Chicago, July 16–19.

Director of Research Lisa Mac Lellan, Naomi Lopez Bauman, and Lance Izumi attended the 27th Annual Meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), in San Diego, July 25–30. PRI co-sponsored the regional meeting of the State Policy Network at the Stanford Park Hotel, July 21–22. PRI’s June 20 dinner with John Stossel was mentioned by Beverly Hills [213] in “Pacific Research Institute Hosts ABC Correspondent,” July 5.

Notables

“Less Yuck for the Buck,” by PRI President Sally C. Pipes, appeared in the July Chief Executive. The American Experiment Quarterly, summer 2000, featured Sally Pipes’s “Conservative Ideas Need Not Play Defense,” and Steve Hayward’s “Let’s Try Responsible Conservatism.” Lance Izumi’s “A Call for Reagan-Era Conservatism” appeared in Asianweek on July 27. Lance’s July 25 KQED-FM commentary on National Public Radio’s Bay Area affiliate dealt with the California state budget. The July 31 Insight on the News cites PRI in “Bush Has a Chance at Winning Increasingly Left-Leaning California.” PRI Fellow Eugene Volokh was quoted by Margaret Steen and Elise Ackerman’s “Privacy Matters,” in the St. Paul Pioneer Press on July 20.