California

California

Reforms to Help Southern California Recover Faster

This week, we present a special discussion from a recent PRI webinar featuring PRI’s scholars and other policy experts exploring how bad policy influence the recent Southern California wildfires on issues ranging from planning to insurance, sharing the lessons learned from the Maui wildfires that every Southern Californian should know ...
Blog

Spending Watch

SB 222 Will Weaken California’s Economy and Reduce State Revenues

SB 222 Will Weaken California’s Economy and Reduce State Revenues Wayne Winegarden and Nikhil Agarwal March 2025 The destructiveness of the Eaton and Palisades fires were unprecedented. According to the Anderson School of Management at UCLA, the recent Los Angeles wildfires caused up to $164 billion in property and capital ...
California

PRI Webinar – Reforms to Help Southern California Recover Faster

In the aftermath of January’s destructive Southern California wildfires, media reports, whistleblowers, and elected officials are providing much needed oversight in the role misguided government policies have played in worsening the tragedy. Affected residents are now seeing firsthand how bad policies and unnecessary government bureaucracy are hindering the rebuilding process. ...
Blog

CAPITAL IDEAS: The Costly Scramble To Save Public Transit In San Francisco

Public transportation in San Francisco has been slipping for some time. To keep it from barreling into the bay, officials are going after wallets, and they plan to cast a net that is so wide that even those who don’t use the systems will be pinched.  Both BART, the Bay ...
Blog

Read the latest on the Southern California wildfires

Burn Baby, Burn

California has become the “Can’t Have State,” as in can’t have plastic bags, can’t have plastic straws and utensils, can’t have a new gasoline-powered car 10 years from now, can’t have a long of things that would make up a list too long to go into here. The next “can’t ...
Blog

Base Affirmative Action on Class, or Get Rid of It

California, always an innovator in the field of racial foolishness, recently saw a bill proposed that would guarantee affirmative action benefits – notably preferential college admissions – to the descendants of Black American slaves. This is a bad idea, but is a step in the right direction (toward AA programs ...
Blog

Spending Watch

Backfilling Lost Federal Education Funding Will Cost California Dearly

Backfilling Lost Federal Education Funding Will Cost California Dearly Wayne Winegarden February 2025 The erratic actions of the Trump Administration are undoubtedly making it more difficult for states to budget for the upcoming 2026 fiscal year. The knee-jerk reaction from many California politicians is to call for more taxes on ...
California

Read the latest about California's ineffective government homelessness programs

A Website About Being Transparent That Isn’t

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration has launched a new initiative – accountability.ca.gov – which it characterizes as “bring(ing) together thousands of locally reported data points to provide a clear picture of local communities’ work on California’s most pressing issues, including homelessness.” In case your stomach is full after eating that word ...
Blog

Should State Government Take Over Gasoline Production in California?

Some are small but add up over time. Others are large, their negative effects almost immediate. In this last category belongs the idea that the state should take ownership of one or more oil refineries. It’s among a number of proposals offered by the California Energy Commission, which was tasked ...
California

Sheriff Jim Cooper – What’s Next after Voter Passage of Prop. 36

From PRI’s 2025 California Ideas in Action Conference, Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper sits down with PRI senior fellow Steve Smith to discuss what’s next in the push for stronger criminal justice policy reforms following the landslide victory of Prop. 36 combating retail theft.  Plus, Ro and Tim discuss the ...
California

Reforms to Help Southern California Recover Faster

This week, we present a special discussion from a recent PRI webinar featuring PRI’s scholars and other policy experts exploring how bad policy influence the recent Southern California wildfires on issues ranging from planning to insurance, sharing the lessons learned from the Maui wildfires that every Southern Californian should know ...
Blog

Spending Watch

SB 222 Will Weaken California’s Economy and Reduce State Revenues

SB 222 Will Weaken California’s Economy and Reduce State Revenues Wayne Winegarden and Nikhil Agarwal March 2025 The destructiveness of the Eaton and Palisades fires were unprecedented. According to the Anderson School of Management at UCLA, the recent Los Angeles wildfires caused up to $164 billion in property and capital ...
California

PRI Webinar – Reforms to Help Southern California Recover Faster

In the aftermath of January’s destructive Southern California wildfires, media reports, whistleblowers, and elected officials are providing much needed oversight in the role misguided government policies have played in worsening the tragedy. Affected residents are now seeing firsthand how bad policies and unnecessary government bureaucracy are hindering the rebuilding process. ...
Blog

CAPITAL IDEAS: The Costly Scramble To Save Public Transit In San Francisco

Public transportation in San Francisco has been slipping for some time. To keep it from barreling into the bay, officials are going after wallets, and they plan to cast a net that is so wide that even those who don’t use the systems will be pinched.  Both BART, the Bay ...
Blog

Read the latest on the Southern California wildfires

Burn Baby, Burn

California has become the “Can’t Have State,” as in can’t have plastic bags, can’t have plastic straws and utensils, can’t have a new gasoline-powered car 10 years from now, can’t have a long of things that would make up a list too long to go into here. The next “can’t ...
Blog

Base Affirmative Action on Class, or Get Rid of It

California, always an innovator in the field of racial foolishness, recently saw a bill proposed that would guarantee affirmative action benefits – notably preferential college admissions – to the descendants of Black American slaves. This is a bad idea, but is a step in the right direction (toward AA programs ...
Blog

Spending Watch

Backfilling Lost Federal Education Funding Will Cost California Dearly

Backfilling Lost Federal Education Funding Will Cost California Dearly Wayne Winegarden February 2025 The erratic actions of the Trump Administration are undoubtedly making it more difficult for states to budget for the upcoming 2026 fiscal year. The knee-jerk reaction from many California politicians is to call for more taxes on ...
California

Read the latest about California's ineffective government homelessness programs

A Website About Being Transparent That Isn’t

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration has launched a new initiative – accountability.ca.gov – which it characterizes as “bring(ing) together thousands of locally reported data points to provide a clear picture of local communities’ work on California’s most pressing issues, including homelessness.” In case your stomach is full after eating that word ...
Blog

Should State Government Take Over Gasoline Production in California?

Some are small but add up over time. Others are large, their negative effects almost immediate. In this last category belongs the idea that the state should take ownership of one or more oil refineries. It’s among a number of proposals offered by the California Energy Commission, which was tasked ...
California

Sheriff Jim Cooper – What’s Next after Voter Passage of Prop. 36

From PRI’s 2025 California Ideas in Action Conference, Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper sits down with PRI senior fellow Steve Smith to discuss what’s next in the push for stronger criminal justice policy reforms following the landslide victory of Prop. 36 combating retail theft.  Plus, Ro and Tim discuss the ...
Scroll to Top