May 2004 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.

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. 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.

PRI Impact
• On May 1, the Oakland Tribune covered Lance Izumi’s appointment by the governor to the 17-member Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. Lance’s appointment was also covered in the Hayward Daily Review, Fremont Argus News Choice, and Sacramento Bee.

• On May 8, PRI’s study Not College Material, by former PRI policy fellow Matt Cox, was cited in the Orange County Register.

•On May 25, Lance’s op-ed “Blue Helmets vs. Prop. 209: A California Judge uses a U.N. Treaty to Discriminate” was published in National Review Online.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC STUDIES KEY ISSUE – ECONOMIC FREEDOM BY STATE

Policy Briefing
Where should you locate new businesses and subsidiaries? In states with the fewest regulatory and fiscal obstacles. And PRI reveals which states are the most friendly to free enterprise and consumer choice in its forthcoming U.S. Economic Freedom Index.

The rankings were developed based on a state-bystate evaluation of 143 economic variables, using the most recent government data. This state profile includes tax rates, state spending, occupational licensing, environmental regulations, income redistribution, right-to-work and prevailing-wage laws, tort laws, and the number of government agencies. These were grouped into five sectors—fiscal, regulatory, judicial, size of government, and social welfare. States were ranked from 1 (most free) to 50 (least free).

PRI Perspective
Kansas ranks number one for economic freedom, thanks largely to its respect for property rights. It engages in less income redistribution and attracts less tort litigation than most states. With few regulatory barriers, Colorado places second. The state also ranks high in the fiscal sector, thanks to its constitutional tax limitation. California ranks a dismal 49, and New York placed last. See PRI’s website, www.pacificresearch. org, for a complete list of rankings.

PRI Impact
• On April 29, Lawrence J. McQuillan, project director of the Index and director of Business and Economic Studies at PRI, gave two presentations in Chicago on PRI’s U.S. Economic Freedom Index: 2004 Report, at the State Policy Network’s 2004 Leadership Development Breakfast and Workshop, and the 27th Annual Heritage Foundation Resource Bank Meeting, attended by more than 600 think tank executives, public interest lawyers, policy experts, elected officials, and activists.

• On May 24, Lawrence’s article “Live Free or Move,” highlighting the Index, appeared in the “Best Places” issue of Forbes magazine and on Forbes.com, which is viewed by five million people each month.

• As a result of the Forbes article, Lawrence gave more than 15 radio interviews, broadcast on more than 850 radio stations reaching six million people throughout 99 percent of the country. He has also been published or quoted in more than 20 newspapers.

• Following coverage of the Index, Lawrence was invited to speak on economic freedom in Zagreb, Croatia, on November 5-7, 2004, at the International Leaders Summit for political leaders and media in the Balkans.

TECHNOLOGY STUDIES KEY ISSUE – CALIFORNIA’S ANTI-TECH LEGISLATORS

Policy Briefing
Many of California’s legislators are harming the high-tech industry with anti-business voting, and Silicon Valley lawmakers are among the worst offenders. These patterns are revealed in PRI’s newly released study Punishing Innovation: A Report on California Legislators’ Anti-Tech Voting. This report examines the 10 worst bills affecting the technology business sector that were introduced in the 2001-2002 legislative session. The bills were chosen on the level of impact they would have on the productivity of the technology sector from an economic perspective, and by how technology-specific they were.

PRI Perspective
One of the most surprising findings of the study was that Silicon Valley legislators have a worse voting record than legislators overall. As stated by Sonia Arrison, co-author and director of technology studies at PRI, “You’d think that Silicon Valley representatives would be more careful when considering bills affecting small businesses and start-ups, but instead the opposite happened.” Her explanation is to “follow the money.” Silicon Valley’s leading technology companies contributed just under $700,000 to political parties in 2000, compared to the $1.6 million contributed by the unions. And while unions, lawyers, and tribal governments all make the top 10 list of campaign contributors overall, the tech industry did not.

PRI Impact
• On May 3, PRI held a press conference in Sacramento for the release of Punishing Innovation: A Report on California Legislators' Anti-Tech Voting. Assemblyman John Campbell and Jon Coupal from the Howard Jarvis Tax Foundation both participated in the conference and endorsed the report. NBC and Fox News covered the event.

• On May 3, Punishing Innovation was discussed on the R21online blog, and on May 5 it was covered by Washington Internet Daily.

• May 5-8, Sonia and 50 other members of Lead21 visiting Washington, DC to discuss technology issues. Sonia met with the Chris Israel, Department of Commerce chief of staff; Congressman Devin Nunes (R-CA); Drew Ladner from the Treasury Department; and key members of Congress and the Bush Administration.

• On May 15, Sonia attended the annual Foresight nanotechnology event. And on May 18, she attended the California Women's Leadership Association (CWLA) with honored guests Cassandra Pye, deputy chief of staff, external affairs to Schwarzenegger, and Donna Lucas, deputy chief of staff to the governor.

• Sonia’s Tech News World columns included a piece on the Cingular/AT&T merger on May 21, and “Battling the Axis of Old” on May 28.

• On May 21, Sonia’s piece on "Star Trek and capitalism" ran in Silicon Valley Business Ink. And on May 28, she was quoted in National Journal Tech Daily on California’s Telecom “Bill of Rights.”

OTHER RECENT IMPACT

Health Care/PRI President
• On May 13, Sally Pipes was interviewed about current events on CNBC’s “Dennis Miller Show.” Also on May 13, Sally was honored at the Sixth Annual WISH Bay Area Reception, which recognized members of Governor Schwarzenegger’s Transition Team.

• On May 14, Sally was interviewed about health care policy on Adelphia Cable’s “Beyond the Beltway Program.”

• On May 21, Sally spoke at the Washington State Medical Doctors Annual Meeting

Environment
• On May 10, the New York Times ran an exposé about the removal of PRI’s advertisement for the Index of Leading Environmental Indicators from the E/The Environmental Magazine website. The ad was removed by E within hours of its posting, due to philosophical opposition from the magazine’s publisher, Earth Action Network. E was particularly opposed to a section of the Index that questions whether significant climate change will occur. However, E’s spokesmen could not refute PRI’s statistics and analysis, which were based on EPA data, the work of Harvard astrophysicists, and other highly respected sources.

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