California
California
Are Democrats abandoning Newsom’s “California Way”?
“The Seven Year Itch” is not only a great Marilyn Monroe movie, but a natural occurrence for California governors and legislators of the same party in the seventh year of an eight-year administration. Governors dominate legislators for most of their tenure, then lawmakers begin to push back and act more ...
Tim Anaya
June 27, 2025
Blog
Newsom and the National Guard
Newsom’s office stated that the president’s order and the presence of the guard: “not only caused widespread panic and chaos, but have unnecessarily created an additional diversion of resources as the state tries to calm a community terrorized by this reckless federal action.” In fact, the “panic and chaos” was ...
Steve Smith
June 23, 2025
California
Susan Crabtree – Fool’s Gold
This week, we talk with Susan Crabtree, award-winning investigative journalist and senior White House and national political correspondent for RealClearPolitics, author of the new book on Gavin Newsom, Fool’s Gold. We discuss the impact of the governor’s policy agenda on people’s ability to achieve the California dream and how California’s ...
Pacific Research Institute
June 2, 2025
California
Newsom’s ed budget: high spending, low results
Despite a $12 billion budget deficit, Governor Gavin Newsom still proposes to spend more on the state’s public schools, despite findings of a Georgetown University study showing that California is not getting education bang for its taxpayer buck. Newsom’s updated budget includes $137.8 billion in total education funding, which consists ...
Lance Izumi
May 30, 2025
California
Can California afford costly climate change programs in a grim budget year?
It was not supposed to be this way. In the throes of last year’s budget turmoil, California’s spending plan at that time was supposed to bring stability. Yet here we are. Another May Revision, another budget deficit — this time for $12 billion. While Gov. Gavin Newsom is right — ...
Wayne H Winegarden
May 30, 2025
California
PRI On NPR: California Created Its Budget Woes
Winegarden joins Insight with his perspective on the state’s fiscal priorities and budget challenges. Listen to the entire interview here.
Wayne H Winegarden
May 15, 2025
California
California’s green new scam could cost you $20,000
California has long fancied itself a beacon of environmental progress, a state willing to lead the charge in combating global warming. But the reality is that this pursuit of a “green” future is coming at a staggering cost to California consumers and businesses, a cost that’s becoming increasingly unsustainable. Read ...
Wayne Winegarden and Kerry Jackson
May 7, 2025
California
From bloated budgets, to wasteful spending: Why California needs its own DOGE
If any government were in desperate need of a DOGE effort, it’s California. The bloated budget, wasteful public works projects and inefficient government programs are all screaming for attention. The federal Department of Government Efficiency has become famous — and certainly infamous in some minds — for its efforts to ...
Kerry Jackson
May 1, 2025
California
Marcos Bretón – On the Challenges of the City of Sacramento and its Major Daily Newspaper
Sacramento Bee editorial page editor Marcos Bretón joins us to discuss the many challenges facing the City of Sacramento, including homelessness and the poor state of the city’s public schools, along with opportunities like the Athletics playing in the city as its temporary home. They also discuss the struggles of ...
Pacific Research Institute
April 14, 2025
California
Assembly Member Blanca Rubio – How to Reverse the Collapse of Learning in California’s Schools
Parents, students, and taxpayers are growing increasingly frustrated by the inability of California’s schools to educate our kids for the future, and they are even more frustrated to learn why our schools are doing so badly – outdated and ineffective learning models. From PRI’s 2025 Sacramento policy conference, hear a ...
Pacific Research Institute
March 24, 2025
Are Democrats abandoning Newsom’s “California Way”?
“The Seven Year Itch” is not only a great Marilyn Monroe movie, but a natural occurrence for California governors and legislators of the same party in the seventh year of an eight-year administration. Governors dominate legislators for most of their tenure, then lawmakers begin to push back and act more ...
Newsom and the National Guard
Newsom’s office stated that the president’s order and the presence of the guard: “not only caused widespread panic and chaos, but have unnecessarily created an additional diversion of resources as the state tries to calm a community terrorized by this reckless federal action.” In fact, the “panic and chaos” was ...
Susan Crabtree – Fool’s Gold
This week, we talk with Susan Crabtree, award-winning investigative journalist and senior White House and national political correspondent for RealClearPolitics, author of the new book on Gavin Newsom, Fool’s Gold. We discuss the impact of the governor’s policy agenda on people’s ability to achieve the California dream and how California’s ...
Newsom’s ed budget: high spending, low results
Despite a $12 billion budget deficit, Governor Gavin Newsom still proposes to spend more on the state’s public schools, despite findings of a Georgetown University study showing that California is not getting education bang for its taxpayer buck. Newsom’s updated budget includes $137.8 billion in total education funding, which consists ...
Can California afford costly climate change programs in a grim budget year?
It was not supposed to be this way. In the throes of last year’s budget turmoil, California’s spending plan at that time was supposed to bring stability. Yet here we are. Another May Revision, another budget deficit — this time for $12 billion. While Gov. Gavin Newsom is right — ...
PRI On NPR: California Created Its Budget Woes
Winegarden joins Insight with his perspective on the state’s fiscal priorities and budget challenges. Listen to the entire interview here.
California’s green new scam could cost you $20,000
California has long fancied itself a beacon of environmental progress, a state willing to lead the charge in combating global warming. But the reality is that this pursuit of a “green” future is coming at a staggering cost to California consumers and businesses, a cost that’s becoming increasingly unsustainable. Read ...
From bloated budgets, to wasteful spending: Why California needs its own DOGE
If any government were in desperate need of a DOGE effort, it’s California. The bloated budget, wasteful public works projects and inefficient government programs are all screaming for attention. The federal Department of Government Efficiency has become famous — and certainly infamous in some minds — for its efforts to ...
Marcos Bretón – On the Challenges of the City of Sacramento and its Major Daily Newspaper
Sacramento Bee editorial page editor Marcos Bretón joins us to discuss the many challenges facing the City of Sacramento, including homelessness and the poor state of the city’s public schools, along with opportunities like the Athletics playing in the city as its temporary home. They also discuss the struggles of ...
Assembly Member Blanca Rubio – How to Reverse the Collapse of Learning in California’s Schools
Parents, students, and taxpayers are growing increasingly frustrated by the inability of California’s schools to educate our kids for the future, and they are even more frustrated to learn why our schools are doing so badly – outdated and ineffective learning models. From PRI’s 2025 Sacramento policy conference, hear a ...