Water
Agriculture
A way out of California’s water crisis
California’s chronic water problems were once again national news when Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation establishing a code of water-use restrictions that would be more fitting for an undeveloped nation. As usual, policymakers chose the austerity of coercive public policy over the voluntary, cooperative agreements that markets use to efficiently ...
California
California May Mandate Solar Panels on All New Homes
California may soon become the first state to mandate solar panels be installed on all new homes, apartments, and condominiums. The California Energy Commission passed a building code regulation requiring all homes constructed in 2020 or later to have solar panels on their roofs, by a unanimous vote on May ...
Blog
Proposed Water Tax Dropped in State Budget Deal
Sacramento has been trying for some time now to add a 95-cents-a-month tax on drinking water to pay for “secure access to safe drinking water for all Californians, while also ensuring the long-term sustainability of drinking water service and infrastructure.” Those dreams of more taxes were delayed last week, though, ...
Blog
New Permanent State Water Restrictions Won’t Increase Supply
California’s man-made drought will become permanent in 2022, the year that “guidelines for efficient water use” must be in place to comply with a couple of bills signed in late May by Gov. Jerry Brown. The main provisions of Senate Bill 606 and Assembly Bill 1668 are, according to the ...
Commentary
Obamacare’s Partisans Complain about High Premiums but Oppose Solution
Exchange plan premiums will rise an average of 15 percent next year, according to a Congressional Budget Office analysis released this past Wednesday. Congressional Democrats blamed the president. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., tweeted that the rate hike is “largely due to Trump Administration sabotage of the health insurance market.” Senate ...
Blog
Prop 68’s Passage Could Mean Christmas Comes Again for Sacramento’s Spending Lobby
Our mailboxes and social media feeds are literally overflowing with campaign advertisements these days. We review the propositions on our June primary preview on PRI’s podcast. Counting up political mailings that I’ve received over the past week, I’ve gotten the most postcards in support of Proposition 68. What is Proposition ...
Blog
Connecting the Dots After a Trip to the Home Depot
A couple of Saturdays ago, I had to make a trip to my neighborhood Home Depot to pick up a few gardening supplies to do some work in the backyard. While looking for a replacement hose for my drip watering system (see, I am water efficient despite my blog post ...
Blog
What We’re Watching – Will A Carbon Tax Increase the Cost of a Sandwich?
Tim Anaya – Will A Carbon Tax Increase the Cost of a Sandwich? One idea for a new tax that is floated around from time to time in California and Washington is a carbon tax. Recently, our friends at the Texas Public Policy Foundation put out a video showing the real ...
Blog
Lieutenant Governor’s Race is a Political Chess Match
Candidates Sen. Ed Hernandez and Eleni Kounalakis One of the most hotly contested races this year is the race for Lieutenant Governor. Gavin Newsom once called the lieutenant governor’s office “a largely ceremonial post . . . with no real authority and no real portfolio.” Of course, that hasn’t stopped ...
California
Should We Really Need a License to Work in California?
Taking a job as a manicurist in California requires more than filling out an application and receiving an offer from an employer. Manicurists have to have at least 400 hours of training, which can cost thousands of dollars. They must also take a written and practical exam. The government-created barrier ...
A way out of California’s water crisis
California’s chronic water problems were once again national news when Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation establishing a code of water-use restrictions that would be more fitting for an undeveloped nation. As usual, policymakers chose the austerity of coercive public policy over the voluntary, cooperative agreements that markets use to efficiently ...
California May Mandate Solar Panels on All New Homes
California may soon become the first state to mandate solar panels be installed on all new homes, apartments, and condominiums. The California Energy Commission passed a building code regulation requiring all homes constructed in 2020 or later to have solar panels on their roofs, by a unanimous vote on May ...
Proposed Water Tax Dropped in State Budget Deal
Sacramento has been trying for some time now to add a 95-cents-a-month tax on drinking water to pay for “secure access to safe drinking water for all Californians, while also ensuring the long-term sustainability of drinking water service and infrastructure.” Those dreams of more taxes were delayed last week, though, ...
New Permanent State Water Restrictions Won’t Increase Supply
California’s man-made drought will become permanent in 2022, the year that “guidelines for efficient water use” must be in place to comply with a couple of bills signed in late May by Gov. Jerry Brown. The main provisions of Senate Bill 606 and Assembly Bill 1668 are, according to the ...
Obamacare’s Partisans Complain about High Premiums but Oppose Solution
Exchange plan premiums will rise an average of 15 percent next year, according to a Congressional Budget Office analysis released this past Wednesday. Congressional Democrats blamed the president. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., tweeted that the rate hike is “largely due to Trump Administration sabotage of the health insurance market.” Senate ...
Prop 68’s Passage Could Mean Christmas Comes Again for Sacramento’s Spending Lobby
Our mailboxes and social media feeds are literally overflowing with campaign advertisements these days. We review the propositions on our June primary preview on PRI’s podcast. Counting up political mailings that I’ve received over the past week, I’ve gotten the most postcards in support of Proposition 68. What is Proposition ...
Connecting the Dots After a Trip to the Home Depot
A couple of Saturdays ago, I had to make a trip to my neighborhood Home Depot to pick up a few gardening supplies to do some work in the backyard. While looking for a replacement hose for my drip watering system (see, I am water efficient despite my blog post ...
What We’re Watching – Will A Carbon Tax Increase the Cost of a Sandwich?
Tim Anaya – Will A Carbon Tax Increase the Cost of a Sandwich? One idea for a new tax that is floated around from time to time in California and Washington is a carbon tax. Recently, our friends at the Texas Public Policy Foundation put out a video showing the real ...
Lieutenant Governor’s Race is a Political Chess Match
Candidates Sen. Ed Hernandez and Eleni Kounalakis One of the most hotly contested races this year is the race for Lieutenant Governor. Gavin Newsom once called the lieutenant governor’s office “a largely ceremonial post . . . with no real authority and no real portfolio.” Of course, that hasn’t stopped ...
Should We Really Need a License to Work in California?
Taking a job as a manicurist in California requires more than filling out an application and receiving an offer from an employer. Manicurists have to have at least 400 hours of training, which can cost thousands of dollars. They must also take a written and practical exam. The government-created barrier ...