October 2003 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.

If you would like to receive this monthly update by email, please contact Carrie Levy at clevy@pacificresearch.org or 415/955-6136.

Business and Economic Studies
Key Issue California’s new governor

Policy Briefing
On October 7, Californians elected a new governor. The mandate for change was loud and clear: Californians are looking for the leadership to revive a struggling economy, foster a business-friendly climate, improve an under-performing education system, and reign in the budget deficit. These and other public policy issues have been given new life with the arrival of Governor Schwarzenegger. He has promised action, and the voters will surely hold him accountable.

PRI Perspective
On October 9, to coincide with the election of a new governor, PRI released its California Leadership Guide, edited by Business and Economic Studies fellow Andrew M. Gloger. The Guide is a comprehensive overview of the current public policy landscape and the opportunities it presents for meaningful change and reform. It focuses on three specific areas of voter-concern: the economy, education, and the budget, with a number of relevant policy recommendations within each section. Authors include all PRI senior staff, select PRI fellows, and outside contributors Adrian Moore of the Reason Institute for Public Policy, and Tom Campbell, current dean at U.C. Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.

PRI Impact

• Following the election, Andrew Gloger was interviewed on the BBC World Business Report, NPR-affiliate KQED’s California Report, KFWB News Radio Los Angles, and KFBK News Radio Sacramento.

• Immediately following the election, PRI’s president Sally C. Pipes was named to Governor Schwarzenegger’s transition team. She was highlighted in news stories nationwide and was mentioned on Rush Limbaugh’s radio show.

• October 23, Lawrence J. McQuillan, Director of Business and Economic Studies at PRI, was named to the new governor’s spending cap task force, which will submit a plan for a constitutional spending limit for California.

• Andrew and Lawrence have been asked by Schwarzenegger’s transition team to provide workers’ compensation policy recommendations for a special session, to be called on November 18.

• October 6, a new study titled “2003 California Piglet Book,” by Citizens Against Government Waste and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Foundation, mentions PRI’s first California Golden Fleece award, which detailed the financial mismanagement of Gray Davis.

• October 23, the San Francisco Chronicle published Lawrence’s op-ed “Yes on D Will Help Small Businesses.”

• October 27, the San Francisco Business Times published Lawrence’s op-ed “Tap Small-Business Energy to Invigorate Lethargic City.”

Education Studies
Key Issue Education and Governor Schwarzenegger

Policy Briefing
Under the new governor, California’s education policy will take a different path over the next three years. Governor Schwarzenegger has said, “I have become an expert in special education. I have become an expert in after-school programs. But I want to become an expert in all education.” PRI is working to provide the information the new governor needs to become an education expert.

PRI Perspective
PRI’s recent studies, California Education Report Card, They Have Overcome, and Ten-Point Agenda for Improving Education in California, all contain valuable data and recommendations for the new governor and his administration.

While Governor Schwarzenegger says that he wants to protect education funding, PRI’s reports show that the money California is spending on education can be spent more efficiently and effectively. How money is spent is as important as how much is spent. Also, holes in the state school accountability program can be plugged and improvements in the testing system can be implemented. Since the governor has promised to clean house, he can start by guaranteeing that scarce education resources be re-directed away from special-interest programs to those efforts that are proven to boost student achievement.

PRI Impact

• October 9, Lance Izumi spoke on panel sponsored the Performance Institute on the transition of government to the new Schwarzenegger administration. Lance outlined education fiscal reforms that the new administration should consider.

• October 16, CaliforniaRepublic.org reprinted Lance’s Capital Ideas column “Davis was Carter, Is Arnold Another Reagan•”

• October 21, Lance met with the editorial board of the Orange County Register and discussed PRI’s education work and his observations about the incoming Schwarzenegger administration’s education policies.

• October 27, National Review Online published Lance’s op-ed “Davis is to Carter as Arnold is to Reagan•”

• October 28, KQED-FM broadcast Lance’s commentary on how Schwarzenegger could eliminate wasteful education spending and re-direct funds to programs that improve student performance.

• October 31, the Teacher Quality Bulletin, published by the National Council on Teacher Quality, contained a memo to governor-elect Schwarzenegger on how to improve education in California. The memo prominently cited Lance’s Ten-Point Agenda for Improving Education in California and urged the new governor to implement the report’s recommendations.

Technology Studies
Key Issue Broadband growth and competition among SMEs

Policy Briefing
Cable modem and DSL services will be the key drivers for broadband growth in the small and medium enterprise (SME) markets, presenting a $10-15 billion opportunity over the next five to 10 years.

PRI Perspective
PRI and the New Millennium Research Council released a new report on the use of broadband by small and intermediate sized businesses. The report assesses how well SMEs, Small/Medium Enterprise, are being served while the Federal Communications Commission considers whether to carve out a separate product market segment for SMEs.

The groundbreaking report, Being Served: Broadband Competition in the Small and Medium Sized Business Market, shows that the outlook for broadband services in the SME segment is strong, with 43 percent of very small businesses, 49 percent of small businesses, and 59 percent of medium businesses expected to increase their Internet usage in the next year.

"Small businesses will spend about $6 billion in 2003 for wireline data services, a 20-percent increase over 2002," says Arrison. "By 2006, In-Stat/MDR projects small businesses will spend nearly $9.8 billion on these services." She notes the SME market is likely to become a battleground for broadband providers over the next two years as the economy improves.

The study also finds that small business use of Internet services is expected to grow 74 percent by the beginning of 2004. Half of these businesses indicate that they expect to buy broadband in the form of cable modem services.

PRI Impact

• October 8, Sonia Arrison was quoted in Communications Daily on the recall election and what it means for technology/telecom.

• October 9, Sonia was interviewed about privacy issues on Tech TV.

• October 13, San Francisco Business Times published Sonia’s op-ed “Regulators Should Let Baby Bells Set their Own Prices.”

• October 14, TechCentralStation.com ran Sonia’s column on “Moore’s Law Meets Evolution.”

• October 15, Sonia participated in a conference in San Francisco sponsored by the Cato Institute and The Economist, “Telecom & Broadband after the Market Meltdown: New Rules for a New World•”

• October 19, Sonia appeared on CNN’s Headline News to discuss privacy and Cyperspying.

• October 21, PRI’s study Being Served was cited in Washington Internet Daily and Communications Daily.

Other Recent Coverage

Health Care

• In October, TechCentralStation.com ran a four-part series by Sally Pipes, based upon her forthcoming book on health-care policy:
• Oct. 14: “Woe, Canada”
• Oct. 15: “The Best Medicine the 1970s Can Provide”
• Oct. 16: “Outta Control”
• Oct. 17: “Border Crossings”

• October 15, Senator Rick Santorum sent a copy of Sally’s Washington Post op-ed to all members of the U.S. Senate.

• October 19, Sally was mentioned in an article in the Chicago Tribune, “Importing drugs and fantasies,” by Steve Chapman, who is a member of the Tribune's editorial board.

• October 24, National Review Online ran Sally’s op-ed “Canada’s Drug Mythology: Labyrinth up North.”

• October 29, Sally was a panelist at a town hall forum sponsored by the Saturday Evening Post. She spoke on “Health Care at the Border.”

• Sally was interviewed on more than a dozen radio shows, in states including California, Colorado, Iowa, Montana, and Texas.