Blog
Blog
Is California Turning on Outdoor Dining?
In July, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to make the city’s emergency outdoor dining ordinance permanent. Adopted in the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic, the program empowered restaurant owners to convert adjacent on-street parking spaces into “parklets” where they could serve pandemic-weary patrons. The city’s parklet initiative, and ...
Blog
Universal Health Care Back For Another Try
In some ways it’s shocking that California, the bluest, hardest left state in the union, still doesn’t have universal health care. Gavin Newson promised a single-payer system when running for governor in 2018, but all attempts have fallen short. Maybe it was something someone said, such as pointing out that ...
Blog
America’s Cities in Decline
Go Downtown Things will be great when you’re — Downtown No finer place for sure — Downtown Everything’s waiting for you – Petula Clark, 1964 Perhaps I date myself, but I can still remember this 1960s song that captured the allure of the city. Back then, downtown, the proverbial “engine ...
Blog
California Not Meeting Emission Reduction Goals by Doubling Down on Policy Mistakes
Download the PDF A recently released independent report says California isn’t going to meet its 2030 emissions goal. Those who have been paying close attention, and those who have immersed themselves in PRI research, won’t be even mildly surprised by this. They know the state has taken the wrong approach ...
Blog
Rebuilt Capitol Annex Will Expand Public’s Ability to Make Voices Heard
Elected officials and staff at the State Capitol are beginning a new legislative year in unfamiliar surroundings – new offices. They moved in November and December to a new “swing space” building a block from the Capitol, which will be their home for about five years as a new Capitol ...
Blog
Trading Places: Students Starting to Shun Conventional Ed for Trade Ed
America’s current labor shortages have highlighted an important truth: we need more people with useable trade skills and less people with nearly worthless woke-laden diplomas and degrees. Students are beginning to understand this economic reality and are gravitating to schools and colleges that emphasize trade education. A recent article in ...
Agriculture
Taxes Up, Roads Still Down, Nothing New
Almost five years ago, the California Legislature passed, and then-Gov. Jerry Brown signed, Senate Bill 1, hiking fuel taxes to raise $52 billion over 10 years for overdue road repairs. For all the revenue raised and spent, the condition of the state’s highway system continues to decline. Under SB1, state ...
Blog
Hospital Emergency Rooms Are Not Covid-19 Testing Centers
A few days ago, I called my pediatrician to set appointments for my children. One child needed to be seen for a potential UTI, the infant needed the next round of standard vaccinations. However, because one child had symptoms related to Covid-19 (a stuffy nose) the pediatrician would not set ...
Blog
California Continued to Shrink in 2021
In 2021, as in 2020, the Golden State only continued to shrink. According to new data from the Department of Finance, California lost a startling 173,000 residents last year. As reported in the Los Angeles Times, 55,000 of those lost residents were victims of the pandemic, while a further 53,000 ...
Blog
A Fundamental Misunderstanding Of … Almost Everything
An end-of-the-year tradition among reporters, commentators, and more recently laptop pundits is the compilation of legislation that becomes law with the turn of the calendar. California being California, there is never a shortage of new rules to live by. And, with a few exceptions, they are further evidence that policymakers ...
Is California Turning on Outdoor Dining?
In July, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to make the city’s emergency outdoor dining ordinance permanent. Adopted in the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic, the program empowered restaurant owners to convert adjacent on-street parking spaces into “parklets” where they could serve pandemic-weary patrons. The city’s parklet initiative, and ...
Universal Health Care Back For Another Try
In some ways it’s shocking that California, the bluest, hardest left state in the union, still doesn’t have universal health care. Gavin Newson promised a single-payer system when running for governor in 2018, but all attempts have fallen short. Maybe it was something someone said, such as pointing out that ...
America’s Cities in Decline
Go Downtown Things will be great when you’re — Downtown No finer place for sure — Downtown Everything’s waiting for you – Petula Clark, 1964 Perhaps I date myself, but I can still remember this 1960s song that captured the allure of the city. Back then, downtown, the proverbial “engine ...
California Not Meeting Emission Reduction Goals by Doubling Down on Policy Mistakes
Download the PDF A recently released independent report says California isn’t going to meet its 2030 emissions goal. Those who have been paying close attention, and those who have immersed themselves in PRI research, won’t be even mildly surprised by this. They know the state has taken the wrong approach ...
Rebuilt Capitol Annex Will Expand Public’s Ability to Make Voices Heard
Elected officials and staff at the State Capitol are beginning a new legislative year in unfamiliar surroundings – new offices. They moved in November and December to a new “swing space” building a block from the Capitol, which will be their home for about five years as a new Capitol ...
Trading Places: Students Starting to Shun Conventional Ed for Trade Ed
America’s current labor shortages have highlighted an important truth: we need more people with useable trade skills and less people with nearly worthless woke-laden diplomas and degrees. Students are beginning to understand this economic reality and are gravitating to schools and colleges that emphasize trade education. A recent article in ...
Taxes Up, Roads Still Down, Nothing New
Almost five years ago, the California Legislature passed, and then-Gov. Jerry Brown signed, Senate Bill 1, hiking fuel taxes to raise $52 billion over 10 years for overdue road repairs. For all the revenue raised and spent, the condition of the state’s highway system continues to decline. Under SB1, state ...
Hospital Emergency Rooms Are Not Covid-19 Testing Centers
A few days ago, I called my pediatrician to set appointments for my children. One child needed to be seen for a potential UTI, the infant needed the next round of standard vaccinations. However, because one child had symptoms related to Covid-19 (a stuffy nose) the pediatrician would not set ...
California Continued to Shrink in 2021
In 2021, as in 2020, the Golden State only continued to shrink. According to new data from the Department of Finance, California lost a startling 173,000 residents last year. As reported in the Los Angeles Times, 55,000 of those lost residents were victims of the pandemic, while a further 53,000 ...
A Fundamental Misunderstanding Of … Almost Everything
An end-of-the-year tradition among reporters, commentators, and more recently laptop pundits is the compilation of legislation that becomes law with the turn of the calendar. California being California, there is never a shortage of new rules to live by. And, with a few exceptions, they are further evidence that policymakers ...
