Blog
Blog
Read about SF's turn to the right
San Francisco voters turn to the right on crime and schools
The most controversial, Measure E, passed 54% to 46%. It allowed the following: After a public hearing, the chief of police could install surveillance devices without the approval of the Police Commission; Police could use drones to pursue vehicles and for investigations, including facial recognition, without the approval of the ...
Blog
Part 3
Why for-profit housing succeeds when subsidized housing fails
Los Angeles Case Study Part 3 Why for-profit housing succeeds when subsidized housing fails By Thomas Irwin | March 21, 2024 So what lessons can we draw from what Los Angeles has seen with Executive Directive 1, the city’s effort to streamline regulations for affordable-housing projects? First, people passionate about ...
Blog
Can state lawmakers legislate happiness?
Time to Legislate our Happiness?
Because the Legislature has been so ‘successful’ creating a ‘thriving place’ for Californians to live, why not give them the opportunity to legislate our happiness as well. Thus, another committee has been created named the Select Committee on Happiness and Public Policy Outcomes to, according to Assemblymember Rendon, “consider possible ...
Blog
Learn the latest about the Newsom Panera Bread scandal
California’s Sourdough Politics
Did the California governor have his cake and let an old friend eat it, too? Late last month, Gavin Newsom was accused of providing a schoolmate’s businesses with an exemption from the minimum wage hike coming on April 1. Both parties deny there was any favoritism. Yet it still looks ...
Blog
Read our latest State Budget Update
Senate Dem Plan to “Shrink the Shortfall” is Destined to Fail
With California’s budget deficit now surpassing $73 billion according to the latest estimates from the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s office, it’s clear that legislators will have to make significant mid-year budget adjustments even before the Governor’s May Revise is released. As PRI has written before, a budget problem of this magnitude ...
Blog
Part 2
Why for-profit housing succeeds when subsidized housing fails
Los Angeles Case Study Part 2 Why for-profit housing succeeds when subsidized housing fails By Thomas Irwin | March 15, 2024 In the first part of this series, I reviewed the one bright spot in Los Angeles’ efforts to increase housing supply and reduce housing costs – the success of ...
Blog
Read latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
Cities should think twice before embracing ‘fare-free’ transit
On Jan. 1, 2020, the InterCity Transit agency servicing Olympia, Wash., and nearby cities went “zero fare.” From 2020 through 2023, the city of Tucson, Ariz., made its public transit system “free” to ride, with the council declaring “our intention to go fare-free transit.” Activists in Los Angeles have argued ...
Blog
Read the latest about green mandates
Yet Again, Less Power To The People
Does anyone in the California Capitol subscribe to the Washington Post? Maybe someone on the governor’s staff, or an aide to an influential legislator? Because the Post published on March 7 an informative story that should be passed around to every lawmaker in Sacramento. Start with the headline (and a ...
Agriculture
Proposed H-2A rule changes will make the program more difficult for everyone
In 2022, California’s agricultural employers hired 44,400 farmworkers through the H-2A visa program. The number of people hired through the program equates to about 12 percent of the total number of farmworkers hired through the visa program for the entire United States that year. Farmworkers with H-2A visas are temporary ...
Blog
What do the California primary results mean?
Wake Us When It’s Over – A Few Takeaways from the California Primary
Legendary journalists Jules Witcover and the late Jack Germond, famous political columnists from an era past, wrote several terrific books chronicling presidential campaigns. I was reminded of one of the titles of their books when thinking about this year’s California primary – wake us when it’s over! Despite hundreds of ...
Read about SF's turn to the right
San Francisco voters turn to the right on crime and schools
The most controversial, Measure E, passed 54% to 46%. It allowed the following: After a public hearing, the chief of police could install surveillance devices without the approval of the Police Commission; Police could use drones to pursue vehicles and for investigations, including facial recognition, without the approval of the ...
Part 3
Why for-profit housing succeeds when subsidized housing fails
Los Angeles Case Study Part 3 Why for-profit housing succeeds when subsidized housing fails By Thomas Irwin | March 21, 2024 So what lessons can we draw from what Los Angeles has seen with Executive Directive 1, the city’s effort to streamline regulations for affordable-housing projects? First, people passionate about ...
Can state lawmakers legislate happiness?
Time to Legislate our Happiness?
Because the Legislature has been so ‘successful’ creating a ‘thriving place’ for Californians to live, why not give them the opportunity to legislate our happiness as well. Thus, another committee has been created named the Select Committee on Happiness and Public Policy Outcomes to, according to Assemblymember Rendon, “consider possible ...
Learn the latest about the Newsom Panera Bread scandal
California’s Sourdough Politics
Did the California governor have his cake and let an old friend eat it, too? Late last month, Gavin Newsom was accused of providing a schoolmate’s businesses with an exemption from the minimum wage hike coming on April 1. Both parties deny there was any favoritism. Yet it still looks ...
Read our latest State Budget Update
Senate Dem Plan to “Shrink the Shortfall” is Destined to Fail
With California’s budget deficit now surpassing $73 billion according to the latest estimates from the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s office, it’s clear that legislators will have to make significant mid-year budget adjustments even before the Governor’s May Revise is released. As PRI has written before, a budget problem of this magnitude ...
Part 2
Why for-profit housing succeeds when subsidized housing fails
Los Angeles Case Study Part 2 Why for-profit housing succeeds when subsidized housing fails By Thomas Irwin | March 15, 2024 In the first part of this series, I reviewed the one bright spot in Los Angeles’ efforts to increase housing supply and reduce housing costs – the success of ...
Read latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
Cities should think twice before embracing ‘fare-free’ transit
On Jan. 1, 2020, the InterCity Transit agency servicing Olympia, Wash., and nearby cities went “zero fare.” From 2020 through 2023, the city of Tucson, Ariz., made its public transit system “free” to ride, with the council declaring “our intention to go fare-free transit.” Activists in Los Angeles have argued ...
Read the latest about green mandates
Yet Again, Less Power To The People
Does anyone in the California Capitol subscribe to the Washington Post? Maybe someone on the governor’s staff, or an aide to an influential legislator? Because the Post published on March 7 an informative story that should be passed around to every lawmaker in Sacramento. Start with the headline (and a ...
Proposed H-2A rule changes will make the program more difficult for everyone
In 2022, California’s agricultural employers hired 44,400 farmworkers through the H-2A visa program. The number of people hired through the program equates to about 12 percent of the total number of farmworkers hired through the visa program for the entire United States that year. Farmworkers with H-2A visas are temporary ...
What do the California primary results mean?
Wake Us When It’s Over – A Few Takeaways from the California Primary
Legendary journalists Jules Witcover and the late Jack Germond, famous political columnists from an era past, wrote several terrific books chronicling presidential campaigns. I was reminded of one of the titles of their books when thinking about this year’s California primary – wake us when it’s over! Despite hundreds of ...
