Taxes
Business & Economics
Replace gas tax with more efficient, fairer mileage fee
California policymakers have spent years debating how to pay for road and highway repairs. President Biden’s current infrastructure plan brings that debate to the national stage. Like its peers, California relies on a gas tax and registration fees to pay for infrastructure. But policymakers should cut registration fees and replace ...
Blog
Maybe It Won’t Be So Easy to Pass These Tax Hikes
Much of the political energy in Sacramento and Washington lately has focused on taxes. Speculation has focused on which taxes liberal politicians will raise, and by how much. While pundits are all but declaring it a fait accompli, two recent developments suggest it will be more difficult than first thought. ...
Agriculture
What Secretary Yellen and Chairman Powell’s Congressional Testimony Mean
There’s a great parable relayed in the movie Charlie Wilson’s War between Rep. Charles Wilson and CIA agent Gust Avrakotos, played by Tom Hanks and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. It’s about a Zen master and a boy. The Zen master repeats the phrase, “we’ll see,” while others in the fable quickly ...
Blog
Government Mandates Big Reason Why Californians Pay More for Gas
Gas prices in California and across the country have been rising sharply since the start of the year. According to the Orange County Register, “the cost of an average gallon of gasoline has climbed to “the highest it’s been in 67 weeks.” As of March 17, average gas prices in ...
Blog
Winners and Losers – March 19
Tim Anaya, Senior Director of Communications and PRI’s Sacramento Office Winner: Mank – Director David Fincher, actor Gary Oldman, and the team behind the Netflix movie Mank (which I have seen and highly recommend) were the big winners this week when the 2021 Academy Award nominations were announced, snagging 10 ...
Blog
The Warren Wealth Tax
California progressives’ plan to impose a wealth tax on state residents died in committee last year. Right by the Bay’s Kerry Jackson and Tim Anaya wrote about why it would hurt everyday Californians far more than its rich and famous. Unfortunately, the idea didn’t end at the California state line. ...
Blog
Stimulus Plan a Bailout Bonanza for California
With Congress on Wednesday giving final approval to President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan, who is the biggest winner from Washington’s biggest ever spending spree? State and local governments in California. In music to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ears, a virtual Brink’s truck is about deliver a mountain of cash from ...
Blog
California’s Unexpected Surplus Further Proof Bailout for States Unnecessary
Last week, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s office (LAO) released its fiscal outlook for 2021, which is traditionally the start of the debate over next year’s state budget. Unexpectedly, California finds itself sitting on a $26 billion windfall according to the LAO, attributed to “results from revisions in prior- and current-year ...
Blog
How Election Results Will Impact Next Year’s State Budget
Gov. Gavin Newsom had a lot riding on the outcome of Tuesday’s election. How the presidential and congressional elections and one key statewide ballot measure shake out will have a significant impact on how he crafts his upcoming 2021-22 state budget plan, to be released on Jan. 10. Newsom bet ...
Business & Economics
Get government out of the boardroom
At the end of last month, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill establishing quotas for minorities on the boards of every publicly traded company in the state. That’s on top of a law enacted in 2018 that implemented quotas for women on corporate boards. The governor and his allies ...
Replace gas tax with more efficient, fairer mileage fee
California policymakers have spent years debating how to pay for road and highway repairs. President Biden’s current infrastructure plan brings that debate to the national stage. Like its peers, California relies on a gas tax and registration fees to pay for infrastructure. But policymakers should cut registration fees and replace ...
Maybe It Won’t Be So Easy to Pass These Tax Hikes
Much of the political energy in Sacramento and Washington lately has focused on taxes. Speculation has focused on which taxes liberal politicians will raise, and by how much. While pundits are all but declaring it a fait accompli, two recent developments suggest it will be more difficult than first thought. ...
What Secretary Yellen and Chairman Powell’s Congressional Testimony Mean
There’s a great parable relayed in the movie Charlie Wilson’s War between Rep. Charles Wilson and CIA agent Gust Avrakotos, played by Tom Hanks and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. It’s about a Zen master and a boy. The Zen master repeats the phrase, “we’ll see,” while others in the fable quickly ...
Government Mandates Big Reason Why Californians Pay More for Gas
Gas prices in California and across the country have been rising sharply since the start of the year. According to the Orange County Register, “the cost of an average gallon of gasoline has climbed to “the highest it’s been in 67 weeks.” As of March 17, average gas prices in ...
Winners and Losers – March 19
Tim Anaya, Senior Director of Communications and PRI’s Sacramento Office Winner: Mank – Director David Fincher, actor Gary Oldman, and the team behind the Netflix movie Mank (which I have seen and highly recommend) were the big winners this week when the 2021 Academy Award nominations were announced, snagging 10 ...
The Warren Wealth Tax
California progressives’ plan to impose a wealth tax on state residents died in committee last year. Right by the Bay’s Kerry Jackson and Tim Anaya wrote about why it would hurt everyday Californians far more than its rich and famous. Unfortunately, the idea didn’t end at the California state line. ...
Stimulus Plan a Bailout Bonanza for California
With Congress on Wednesday giving final approval to President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan, who is the biggest winner from Washington’s biggest ever spending spree? State and local governments in California. In music to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ears, a virtual Brink’s truck is about deliver a mountain of cash from ...
California’s Unexpected Surplus Further Proof Bailout for States Unnecessary
Last week, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s office (LAO) released its fiscal outlook for 2021, which is traditionally the start of the debate over next year’s state budget. Unexpectedly, California finds itself sitting on a $26 billion windfall according to the LAO, attributed to “results from revisions in prior- and current-year ...
How Election Results Will Impact Next Year’s State Budget
Gov. Gavin Newsom had a lot riding on the outcome of Tuesday’s election. How the presidential and congressional elections and one key statewide ballot measure shake out will have a significant impact on how he crafts his upcoming 2021-22 state budget plan, to be released on Jan. 10. Newsom bet ...
Get government out of the boardroom
At the end of last month, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill establishing quotas for minorities on the boards of every publicly traded company in the state. That’s on top of a law enacted in 2018 that implemented quotas for women on corporate boards. The governor and his allies ...
