California

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Bankruptcy Deadline May Not Save PG&E from State Takeover

Reeling from multiple massive state wildfires that its actions likely triggered, Pacific Gas & Electric, or PG&E, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this time last year. The investor-owned utility faces a June 30, 2020 deadline to come up with a plan to come out of bankruptcy, address the estimated $25 ...
Blog

Assembly Bill 5: Is The Worst Yet To Come?

At what point did the lawmakers who voted for, and the governor who signed, California Assembly Bill 5 realize it’s lousy policy? It should have been the moment the idea was first conceived. But that didn’t happen, the legislation became law, and now it’s being implicitly admitted that it’s a ...
California

Larry Sand – Opportunities to Expand School Choice

Noted education reformer Larry Sand of the California Teachers Empowerment Network talks with PRI’s Lance Izumi about opportunities to expand school choice in California despite recent legislative setbacks last year targeting charter schools. They discuss a looming Supreme Court decision that could help more students utilize education freedom scholarships to ...
California

The Warm California Sun Needs to Shine in The Dark Corners of Government Operations

Gov. Gavin Newsom promised greater transparency in California government. Jerry Brown was elected secretary of state 50 years ago on a transparency platform. While serving one of his terms in what nearly turned out to be a “governor-for-life” political career, Brown said he was “committed to keeping state government open ...
Commentary

Gavin Newsom’s single-payer commission is doomed to fail

Last week, Gavin Newsom’s Healthy California for All Commission convened for the first time. The commission has been tasked with figuring out how to install a single-payer healthcare system statewide. The commission’s 13 voting and five non-voting members represent a who’s-who of big-government academics, union leaders, and public health officials. ...
Blog

Single-Payer Poll Watch: Single-Payer Support and Opposition Even, Iowa Caucusgoers Rate Health Care Top Issue

One of the first national health care polls of 2020 shows the continued lukewarm support for a national single-payer health care plan. Adding the January 2020 Kaiser survey to the Pacific Research Institute (PRI) Single-Payer Poll Watch brings the average support and opposition for single-payer health care to almost dead ...
Blog

Chesa Boudin Invites Crime To San Francisco. So It’s No Surprise When Crime Rises

San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin is no crime fighter. He’s among the new breed of decline-to-prosecute prosecutors whose elections have been funded by George Soros (and his political machine). The uber-wealthy agitator is determined to use his multiple billions not to advance society but disrupt it. So far, it ...
Blog

Coming to a March Primary Ballot Near You – More Ballot Box Budgeting

The March primary election is a month away.  While we are already being bombarded with television advertising for the Democratic presidential race, there hasn’t been much discussion of ballot measures. That’s because in 2011, Democrats in the Legislature enacted a law moving all statewide ballot initiatives to the November ballot, ...
Business & Economics

Regulation stands in the way of entrepreneurship for low-income families

https://www.pacificresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Wayne-Winegarden-News.mp3   In October 2019, the Pacific Research Institute released findings of a new report, titled Breaking Down Barriers to Opportunity #2 Entrepreneurship as a Pathway to the American Dream. The report, authored by Wayne Winegarden, contends that “overly complex government regulations are a common cause behind the barriers to low-income entrepreneurship.” ...
Agriculture

The City That Taxed Too Much

San Francisco has added yet another tax, this one to fund a climate initiative. Though maybe it’s an overused phrase, “death by a thousand tax hikes” is still a descriptive expression, and it applies here. The 1% surcharge being added to some diners’ checks at some restaurants is not actually ...
Blog

Bankruptcy Deadline May Not Save PG&E from State Takeover

Reeling from multiple massive state wildfires that its actions likely triggered, Pacific Gas & Electric, or PG&E, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this time last year. The investor-owned utility faces a June 30, 2020 deadline to come up with a plan to come out of bankruptcy, address the estimated $25 ...
Blog

Assembly Bill 5: Is The Worst Yet To Come?

At what point did the lawmakers who voted for, and the governor who signed, California Assembly Bill 5 realize it’s lousy policy? It should have been the moment the idea was first conceived. But that didn’t happen, the legislation became law, and now it’s being implicitly admitted that it’s a ...
California

Larry Sand – Opportunities to Expand School Choice

Noted education reformer Larry Sand of the California Teachers Empowerment Network talks with PRI’s Lance Izumi about opportunities to expand school choice in California despite recent legislative setbacks last year targeting charter schools. They discuss a looming Supreme Court decision that could help more students utilize education freedom scholarships to ...
California

The Warm California Sun Needs to Shine in The Dark Corners of Government Operations

Gov. Gavin Newsom promised greater transparency in California government. Jerry Brown was elected secretary of state 50 years ago on a transparency platform. While serving one of his terms in what nearly turned out to be a “governor-for-life” political career, Brown said he was “committed to keeping state government open ...
Commentary

Gavin Newsom’s single-payer commission is doomed to fail

Last week, Gavin Newsom’s Healthy California for All Commission convened for the first time. The commission has been tasked with figuring out how to install a single-payer healthcare system statewide. The commission’s 13 voting and five non-voting members represent a who’s-who of big-government academics, union leaders, and public health officials. ...
Blog

Single-Payer Poll Watch: Single-Payer Support and Opposition Even, Iowa Caucusgoers Rate Health Care Top Issue

One of the first national health care polls of 2020 shows the continued lukewarm support for a national single-payer health care plan. Adding the January 2020 Kaiser survey to the Pacific Research Institute (PRI) Single-Payer Poll Watch brings the average support and opposition for single-payer health care to almost dead ...
Blog

Chesa Boudin Invites Crime To San Francisco. So It’s No Surprise When Crime Rises

San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin is no crime fighter. He’s among the new breed of decline-to-prosecute prosecutors whose elections have been funded by George Soros (and his political machine). The uber-wealthy agitator is determined to use his multiple billions not to advance society but disrupt it. So far, it ...
Blog

Coming to a March Primary Ballot Near You – More Ballot Box Budgeting

The March primary election is a month away.  While we are already being bombarded with television advertising for the Democratic presidential race, there hasn’t been much discussion of ballot measures. That’s because in 2011, Democrats in the Legislature enacted a law moving all statewide ballot initiatives to the November ballot, ...
Business & Economics

Regulation stands in the way of entrepreneurship for low-income families

https://www.pacificresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Wayne-Winegarden-News.mp3   In October 2019, the Pacific Research Institute released findings of a new report, titled Breaking Down Barriers to Opportunity #2 Entrepreneurship as a Pathway to the American Dream. The report, authored by Wayne Winegarden, contends that “overly complex government regulations are a common cause behind the barriers to low-income entrepreneurship.” ...
Agriculture

The City That Taxed Too Much

San Francisco has added yet another tax, this one to fund a climate initiative. Though maybe it’s an overused phrase, “death by a thousand tax hikes” is still a descriptive expression, and it applies here. The 1% surcharge being added to some diners’ checks at some restaurants is not actually ...
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