May 1998 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 a sample of PRI’s work in May.

FREEDOM & TECHNOLOGY

U.S. Encryption Policy: A Free-Market Primer, by Justin Matlick, Director of PRI’s Center for Freedom and Technology, is “probably the single best general introduction to the issue I have seen,” according to a memo to think-tanks, policymakers, and their staffs from Jim Lucier, Director of Research at Americans for Tax Reform. The offices of Senator John Ashcroft (R-MO) and Representative Robert Goodlatte (R-VA) have agreed to summarize the paper’s findings in a letter to all other federal legislators. Paul Weyrich of the Free Congress Foundation recommended the primer, which is also listed as a top resource by Policy Digest, an on-line publication of the National Center for Policy Analysis.

Pacific Research joined Citizens for a Sound Economy, Competitive Enterprise Institute, Heritage Foundation, National Center for Policy Analysis, National Center for Public Policy Research, Reason Public Policy Institute, Advancement of Sound Science Coalition and other groups in sponsoring a May 22 science briefing for congressional staff in Washington. Research scientist Roger Pocklington, an expert in temperature change, served as guest speaker.

Erin Schiller's op-ed “Earth Day: Can We Talk?” was published in the April 22 Memphis Commercial Appeal.

California Assemblyman Keith Olberg has asked Dana Joel, PRI’s Director of Research, to provide intellectual ammunition for legislation he is sponsoring opposing the terms of the global warming treaty.

EVENTS

On May 29 House Majority leader Dick Armey told an audience of nearly 200 at the Lakeview Club in Oakland that for some time he had relied on the Pacific Research Institute as a resource for his own work. The Texas Republican, also a free-market economist with a Ph.D., addressed the Smith Center for Private Enterprise’s Seventh Annual Speaker of National Prominence Dinner co-hosted by the Pacific Research Institute. He spoke on freedom, responsibility, and the role values play in shaping public policy. “Without character there can be no free nation,” he said. “No freedom without personal responsibility.”

Elected to Congress in 1984, Mr. Armey has proved himself a staunch advocate of public policy based on the principles of the free market and limited government. An advocate of the flat tax, he has backed legislation to reform public housing, close obsolete military bases, and advance free-market reforms in federal farm policy. Rep. Armey repeated the axiom, found on his web site, that “the market is rational and the government is dumb.” He told the audience that “freedom works” and that the free market punishes fraud and immorality.

“The market destroys people with lack of character,” he said. “The government harbors people with lack of character.” Mr. Armey said school choice was not about schools “but about children.” He said he would urge Congress to “reform retirement so it is personal and not social, and therefore secure.”

EDUCATION

At its May meeting in New York, the Children’s Education Opportunity Foundation recognized PRI President Sally Pipes and Pam Riley, Co-Director of PRI’s Center for School Reform, as Co-Founders of the San Francisco Independent Scholars Foundation. These scholarship programs may now be found in more than thirty cities.

On May 3, the Washington Times published “Silicon Valley Pushes California into School-Reform Action,” an article by PRI Editorial Director Lloyd Billingsley. Lloyd’s article, “Three Democrats Oppose Bilingual Ban,” appeared in the Times on May 14.

Lance Izumi, PRI Fellow in California Studies and Co-Director of the Center on School Reform, was interviewed on race and education issues by KCBS radio in San Francisco on April 30. On May 5, KQED broadcast his commentary on bilingual education and the following day Investor’s Business Daily interviewed Lance on education, business, and political issues.

Lance published an op-ed on the failure of bilingual education programs and the success of English immersion in the May 7 Pasadena Star-News. On May 15, Lance debated the issue of bilingual education on KXJZ-FM, the National Public Radio affiliate in Sacramento. The same day he was interviewed about bilingualism by KMAX-TV, Sacramento’s Warner Network affiliate.

On May 19, the San Francisco Examiner interviewed Lance Izumi about the record and performance of State Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin. The following day Lance participated in a debate on bilingual education sponsored by the San Francisco World Affairs Council and broadcast on KQED-FM.

PRI’s Alison Weeks, administrator of San Francisco Independent Scholars, is now serving on the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing’s CLAD (Cross-cultural Language and Academic Development) Task Force. The Task Force’s mandate is to review the knowledge base and tests used to credential California teachers working with students of limited English proficiency. Alison attended Task Force meetings in Burbank on May 14-15.

HEALTH & WELFARE

On May 6th, Naomi Lopez appeared on National Public Radio’s KCRW in Los Angeles to discuss Social Security reform on “Which Way, L.A.? with Warren Olney.” Guests included Matt Miller of U.S. News and World Report and Fernando Torres-Gil of UCLA, a former Assistant Secretary in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Also on May 6 Naomi discussed Social Security reform on NBC’s KRON in San Francisco. “Social Security Trustees’ Report: No Cause for Celebration,” Naomi’s Action Alert, was released on May 8 as part of PRI’s newest publication series.

CIVIL RIGHTS

David Judson of the Gannett News Service twice quoted PRI’s Katherine Post in a May 11, nationally published story, “Congressional GOP Abandons Battle Against Affirmative Action.” On May 26, the Detroit News quoted Katherine in “Two Thirds of U.S. Youths Support Affirmative Action, Polls Find.”

Also on May 26, KQED in San Francisco interviewed Lance Izumi on the impact of Asian Americans in city politics.

On April 29th, Naomi Lopez, PRI’s Director of Health and Welfare Studies, discussed human rights and domestic policy on Bay TV’s “Take Issue” show.

NOTABLES

Katherine Post, director of Pacific Research’s Center for Enterprise and Opportunity, made her first appearance on the live television show, CNN & Co., with host Mary Tillotsin on June 1. With her fellow commentators, former federal prosecutor Marty Rogers and Democratic strategist Nikki Heiderpriem, Katherine discussed a range of topics including Social Security reform, the federal budget surplus, and the nuclear standoff between India and Pakistan.

From May 8-10, Dana Joel attended the Mackinac Center for Public Policy’s Leadership conference in Midland, Michigan. On May 14 Dana Joel spoke about the benefits of the flat tax to the Discovery Bay Republican Women’s group.

The June issue of California Journal published Lance Izumi’s “Fresh Air in Oakland,” about the mayoral candidacy of NAACP president Shannon Reeves.

BOOKS

The San Francisco Institute of Architecture will reprint an excerpt from PRI’s Resolving the Housing Crisis: Government Policy, Decontrol and the Public Interest, by M. Bruce Johnson. The excerpt will appear in The Ecological Design Handbook, to be published by McGraw-Hill this December.