Agriculture
MAHA Report: a failure on several levels
When the MAHA report was released, readers quickly noticed what were later referred to as “formatting errors.” Those errors included footnotes and citations that didn’t exist and were apparently the result of “hallucinations” by report writers relying on AI rather than doing the work to understand existing research. What is ...
Blog
Read the latest on the LA ICE riots
ICE in California – Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place
On May 20, 50 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials including all regional field office directors and an assortment of Homeland Security special agents and investigators were summoned to Washington DC by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. Miller is the point man for the Trump administration’s plan ...
Blog
Legislative whiffs—and a few wins—on state housing reform
Legislative whiffs—and a few wins—on state housing reform In a recent piece for RealClearInvestigations, urban experts Joel Kotkin and Wendell Cox lamented that “housing affordability stands at the lowest level ever recorded, while one in three Americans now spend over 30% of their income on mortgage or rent.” Try telling ...
Blog
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
Newsom wisely uses political capital to secure CEQA reform
Gov. Gavin Newsom isn’t afraid to step into the political fray when it comes to standing up to President Donald Trump over national issues that impact California. He’s not always wrong when he sues the administration or speaks out against, say, ICE raids in Los Angeles. But most of those high-profile actions ...
Blog
Read part 1 of a 3 part series on drug pricing
Conspiracies Aside, Drug Company Profits Are Average
Recently, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) held its first of three listening sessions on the pharmaceutical market. The goal was to discuss reforms that will improve drug affordability by increasing “generic and biosimilar availability” and promoting “competition”. Achieving these goals is essential. The flaw of the first listening session is ...
Blog
Crime in California 2024
Crime in California 2024 by Steve Smith | July 15, 2025 On July 1, as it has for over 50 years, the California Department of Justice released three statistical reports covering crime in general, homicides, and juvenile crime. On the positive side, there are some reductions particularly in violent crime ...
Blog
Anti-Charter School Bill Would Hurt Most Vulnerable CA Students
Anti-Charter School Bill Would Hurt Most Vulnerable CA Students by Lance Izumi | July 14, 2025 A bill plowing through the State Legislature is using fiscal accountability as a fig-leaf issue to hide its real intentions—crippling California’s popular charter-school sector in order to bolster regular public schools that are seeing ...
Blog
Learn how much California's green mandates will cost you
Drivers Will Pay More for State’s “Managed Decline” of Oil and Gas Production
It might be smart for oil and gas industry executives to start planning to pack up for a complete pullout from California. Or to at least notify government officials that their exit is being seriously contemplated. It’s not easy to operate a business that has been declared unofficially, but effectively, an enemy of the ...
Blog
Parking deregulation helps cities and promotes property rights
Parking deregulation helps cities and promotes property rights By D. Dowd Muska | July 11, 2025 You can fight city hall. But if the dispute involves parking, don’t expect the battle to be brief. That’s the bitter and expensive lesson learned by Azael “Oz” Sepulveda, an auto mechanic in Pasadena, Texas. For ...
Blog
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
Los Angeles pursues scarcity with short-term rental crackdown
When it comes to its perennial housing crisis, the city of Los Angeles will seek out any scapegoat it can find if it means avoiding having to admit the city’s own policies are at the root of the problem. It should come as no surprise that the city permitted just ...
MAHA Report: a failure on several levels
When the MAHA report was released, readers quickly noticed what were later referred to as “formatting errors.” Those errors included footnotes and citations that didn’t exist and were apparently the result of “hallucinations” by report writers relying on AI rather than doing the work to understand existing research. What is ...
Read the latest on the LA ICE riots
ICE in California – Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place
On May 20, 50 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials including all regional field office directors and an assortment of Homeland Security special agents and investigators were summoned to Washington DC by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. Miller is the point man for the Trump administration’s plan ...
Legislative whiffs—and a few wins—on state housing reform
Legislative whiffs—and a few wins—on state housing reform In a recent piece for RealClearInvestigations, urban experts Joel Kotkin and Wendell Cox lamented that “housing affordability stands at the lowest level ever recorded, while one in three Americans now spend over 30% of their income on mortgage or rent.” Try telling ...
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
Newsom wisely uses political capital to secure CEQA reform
Gov. Gavin Newsom isn’t afraid to step into the political fray when it comes to standing up to President Donald Trump over national issues that impact California. He’s not always wrong when he sues the administration or speaks out against, say, ICE raids in Los Angeles. But most of those high-profile actions ...
Read part 1 of a 3 part series on drug pricing
Conspiracies Aside, Drug Company Profits Are Average
Recently, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) held its first of three listening sessions on the pharmaceutical market. The goal was to discuss reforms that will improve drug affordability by increasing “generic and biosimilar availability” and promoting “competition”. Achieving these goals is essential. The flaw of the first listening session is ...
Crime in California 2024
Crime in California 2024 by Steve Smith | July 15, 2025 On July 1, as it has for over 50 years, the California Department of Justice released three statistical reports covering crime in general, homicides, and juvenile crime. On the positive side, there are some reductions particularly in violent crime ...
Anti-Charter School Bill Would Hurt Most Vulnerable CA Students
Anti-Charter School Bill Would Hurt Most Vulnerable CA Students by Lance Izumi | July 14, 2025 A bill plowing through the State Legislature is using fiscal accountability as a fig-leaf issue to hide its real intentions—crippling California’s popular charter-school sector in order to bolster regular public schools that are seeing ...
Learn how much California's green mandates will cost you
Drivers Will Pay More for State’s “Managed Decline” of Oil and Gas Production
It might be smart for oil and gas industry executives to start planning to pack up for a complete pullout from California. Or to at least notify government officials that their exit is being seriously contemplated. It’s not easy to operate a business that has been declared unofficially, but effectively, an enemy of the ...
Parking deregulation helps cities and promotes property rights
Parking deregulation helps cities and promotes property rights By D. Dowd Muska | July 11, 2025 You can fight city hall. But if the dispute involves parking, don’t expect the battle to be brief. That’s the bitter and expensive lesson learned by Azael “Oz” Sepulveda, an auto mechanic in Pasadena, Texas. For ...
Read the latest from PRI's Free Cities Center
Los Angeles pursues scarcity with short-term rental crackdown
When it comes to its perennial housing crisis, the city of Los Angeles will seek out any scapegoat it can find if it means avoiding having to admit the city’s own policies are at the root of the problem. It should come as no surprise that the city permitted just ...
