California
Blog
How CEQA II Could Be a Hollywood Sequel That Everyone Likes
When then-Gov. Ronald Reagan signed CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act, into law in 1970, it’s unlikely anyone thought it would eventually be equipped with a warhead and then used to harm business rivals, block development for political rather than environmental reasons, and leverage better labor deals for unions. Yet ...
Blog
How NIMBYs Almost Killed Disneyland
The politics of “Not in My Backyard” (NIMBY) have helped to make California one of the most expensive states in the country by blocking the construction of much-needed housing. But did you know that the same impulses once imperiled one of the region’s most iconic institutions, a destination on par ...
Blog
The CDC’s Legally Questionable Extension of the Rent Moratorium
Toddlers are funny little creatures – simultaneously overly dependent and highly independent. With the newfound discovery of willpower, the tiny humans constantly experiment in testing boundaries. My toddler is characteristically sweet and obedient. But there is one rule she delights in breaking: dumping out the dog’s water bowl. Testing limits, ...
Blog
Next Big California Ballot Fight: Legalizing Sports Wagering
Voters wary of the deluge of campaign advertising related to recall election be warned. The next multi-million-dollar ballot fight is just around the corner. According to Politico, “major gambling players (including DraftKings, FanDuel and BetMGM) intend to ante up $100 million for an online sports betting initiative that would fund ...
Blog
Could Labor Day Push for Higher Minimum Wage Lead to More Work Being Done by Robots?
Who is going to be first in line to buy if Elon Musk is able to build a humanoid robot in the future? A best guess would be owners of the California companies whose businesses are threatened by the state’s steep minimum wage and other costs heaped on them by ...
California
Fact-Checked: Gavin Newsom Shouldn’t Have Dared Us
By Kerry Jackson and Wayne Winegarden In an interview performance that has been described as “unhinged,” “odd,” “testy,” and “angry,” Gov. Gavin Newsom claimed Texas middle-class families “pay more taxes than middle-class families in California.” “Look that up,” he said in a virtual meeting with editorial and opinion writers from ...
California
Would You Buy a Used Electric Car from This Man?
In his last year occupying the governor’s office, Jerry Brown issued an executive order that he said would put 5 million zero-emissions cars on California roads by 2030. Not to be out-virtue-signaled, Gov. Gavin Newsom last year dropped an order on the state that outlaws the sale of new gasoline- ...
Blog
The California War On Gas Stations
Just a few months back, Petaluma in Sonoma County outlawed the construction of new gas stations, the first city in the nation to do so. Anyone who thought such an extreme measure would end there was being naive. Rather than a one-off event, the Petaluma City Council’s unanimous vote to ...
Blog
CAPITAL IDEAS: California’s Slow-Built Rail
Download the PDF One of the Legislature’s jobs in the final month of the 2021 session is to make a high-speed rail funding decision. The question is how many more billions will be wasted this year on a project that sensible lawmakers would have abandoned long ago. The Legislature, which ...
Business & Economics
Wayne Winegarden – Electricity, Environment, and the Economy
Next Round’s guest is economist Wayne Winegarden, PRI senior fellow in Business and Economics. Dr. Winegarden discusses some of the key issues being debated in Washington and Sacramento, from the infrastructure bill to the $3.5 trillion budget resolution package to California and the nation’s climate change policies. As director of ...
How CEQA II Could Be a Hollywood Sequel That Everyone Likes
When then-Gov. Ronald Reagan signed CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act, into law in 1970, it’s unlikely anyone thought it would eventually be equipped with a warhead and then used to harm business rivals, block development for political rather than environmental reasons, and leverage better labor deals for unions. Yet ...
How NIMBYs Almost Killed Disneyland
The politics of “Not in My Backyard” (NIMBY) have helped to make California one of the most expensive states in the country by blocking the construction of much-needed housing. But did you know that the same impulses once imperiled one of the region’s most iconic institutions, a destination on par ...
The CDC’s Legally Questionable Extension of the Rent Moratorium
Toddlers are funny little creatures – simultaneously overly dependent and highly independent. With the newfound discovery of willpower, the tiny humans constantly experiment in testing boundaries. My toddler is characteristically sweet and obedient. But there is one rule she delights in breaking: dumping out the dog’s water bowl. Testing limits, ...
Next Big California Ballot Fight: Legalizing Sports Wagering
Voters wary of the deluge of campaign advertising related to recall election be warned. The next multi-million-dollar ballot fight is just around the corner. According to Politico, “major gambling players (including DraftKings, FanDuel and BetMGM) intend to ante up $100 million for an online sports betting initiative that would fund ...
Could Labor Day Push for Higher Minimum Wage Lead to More Work Being Done by Robots?
Who is going to be first in line to buy if Elon Musk is able to build a humanoid robot in the future? A best guess would be owners of the California companies whose businesses are threatened by the state’s steep minimum wage and other costs heaped on them by ...
Fact-Checked: Gavin Newsom Shouldn’t Have Dared Us
By Kerry Jackson and Wayne Winegarden In an interview performance that has been described as “unhinged,” “odd,” “testy,” and “angry,” Gov. Gavin Newsom claimed Texas middle-class families “pay more taxes than middle-class families in California.” “Look that up,” he said in a virtual meeting with editorial and opinion writers from ...
Would You Buy a Used Electric Car from This Man?
In his last year occupying the governor’s office, Jerry Brown issued an executive order that he said would put 5 million zero-emissions cars on California roads by 2030. Not to be out-virtue-signaled, Gov. Gavin Newsom last year dropped an order on the state that outlaws the sale of new gasoline- ...
The California War On Gas Stations
Just a few months back, Petaluma in Sonoma County outlawed the construction of new gas stations, the first city in the nation to do so. Anyone who thought such an extreme measure would end there was being naive. Rather than a one-off event, the Petaluma City Council’s unanimous vote to ...
CAPITAL IDEAS: California’s Slow-Built Rail
Download the PDF One of the Legislature’s jobs in the final month of the 2021 session is to make a high-speed rail funding decision. The question is how many more billions will be wasted this year on a project that sensible lawmakers would have abandoned long ago. The Legislature, which ...
Wayne Winegarden – Electricity, Environment, and the Economy
Next Round’s guest is economist Wayne Winegarden, PRI senior fellow in Business and Economics. Dr. Winegarden discusses some of the key issues being debated in Washington and Sacramento, from the infrastructure bill to the $3.5 trillion budget resolution package to California and the nation’s climate change policies. As director of ...
