California Local Elected Officials: Protect the Independence of Local Governments

California Local Elected Officials: Protect the Independence of Local Governments

Sign the Letter of Opposition to SCA 7 California’s powerful union leaders are at it again. State lawmakers are backing a bill that would give the state’s public-sector unions veto power over any state or local government decision in California. That’s why California Policy Center (CPC) is asking local elected officials among California’s 58 counties...

By California Policy Center

California Pols Lose Touch with Reality over Affirmative-Action Ruling

California Pols Lose Touch with Reality over Affirmative-Action Ruling

In doing so, they ignore the real scandal in the state’s education system. *     *     * Among the weirdest reactions to the Supreme Court’s June 29 decisions on affirmative action, those megaphoned by California’s political class may be the most unhinged. Here’s the reality: California voters banned race-based admissions in 1996. But in the decades...

By Will Swaim

How Do You Solve a Problem Like CEQA?

How Do You Solve a Problem Like CEQA?

The following was a three-part series that originally appeared in the California Globe on the impact of the California Environmental Quality Act on development in California and ways to potentially improve the law. It was written in response to hearings conducted over the past three months by California’s Little Hoover Commission.    Edward Ring is a senior fellow...

By Edward Ring

A Happy Anniversary for Workers’ Rights

A Happy Anniversary for Workers’ Rights

Five years ago this week, the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed the First Amendment right of government workers to opt out of their unions.  In Janus vs AFSCME, decided on June 27, 2018, the Court ruled that public-sector employees have the right to opt out of union representation and cannot be forced to pay union dues....

By Houston Reese

Parents are Not Radicals

Parents are Not Radicals

Across the nation, parents are pushing back against inappropriate and hyper-sexualized content in K-12 schools. This organic parent movement is erupting across diverse demographics — in stark contrast to the PR effort by teachers unions and Democrats to fictionalize it as a “Christian nationalist white supremacist” campaign to “ban books.” Earlier this month, Muslim parents in...

By Andrew Davenport

The Corruption of Climate Science: California Forest Facts Expose Study’s Flaws

The Corruption of Climate Science: California Forest Facts Expose Study’s Flaws

For over 50 years, with increasing frequency, corrupted, careerist scientists have produced biased studies that, amplified by agenda-driven corporate and political special interests, constitute a “consensus” that is supposedly “beyond debate.” We are in a “climate crisis.” To cope with this climate emergency, all measures are justifiable. This is overblown, one-sided, and manipulative propaganda. It...

By Edward Ring

Teachers beat San Diego union in remarkable rematch

Teachers beat San Diego union in remarkable rematch

Take a break from doom scrolling California stories to celebrate the victory of charter school teachers over the union that came to crush them.  Teachers at Gompers Preparatory Academy, a public charter school in the Chollas View neighborhood of San Diego, have successfully voted to remove San Diego Education Association (SDEA) union bosses from their...

By California Policy Center

SCOTUS confirms unions can be sued for property damage

SCOTUS confirms unions can be sued for property damage

In an important ruling last week, the U.S. Supreme Court held that unions can be sued in state court for damages if striking workers intentionally destroy their employer’s property. The decision is a victory for employers that puts unions on notice that there are consequences for their reckless actions during strikes. In Glacier Northwest v....

By Houston Reese

More Companies Flee to Texas

More Companies Flee to Texas

The Lone Star State continues to profit from the corporate exodus from California as the list of big-name businesses moving to Texas grows. Fleeing California’s highly-regulated environment, a number of companies have announced they’re moving to Texas for the state’s dynamic, growth-friendly economy. Last week, the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce released a study...

By Sheridan Swanson

Uneducating America: Student Test Scores on U.S. History and Civics Hit All-Time Lows

Uneducating America: Student Test Scores on U.S. History and Civics Hit All-Time Lows

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also referred to as the Nation’s Report Card, is a test that measures the knowledge of American students in various areas. The results of the NAEP test in U.S. history and civics, taken in 2022, were released last month. They paint a grim picture: according to the data,...

By Larry Sand

Bay Area Financial Crisis: Oakland

Bay Area Financial Crisis: Oakland

Like San Francisco, the Bay Area City of Oakland is facing major budget woes. Mayor Sheng Thao’s proposed budget for 2023-25 released last month reveals the city is facing  a $360 million shortfall, the largest budget deficit in Oakland’s history.  The proposed budget for FY 2023-24 and 2024-25 plans for total expenditures of over $2.1...

By Sheridan Swanson

San Francisco’s Financial Crisis

San Francisco’s Financial Crisis

The State of California isn’t the only one scrambling to prepare a budget while staring down a deficit. Several Bay Area municipalities are also struggling with their own budget problems, San Francisco chief among them.  San Francisco’s 2022-23 budget and next year’s 2023-24 budget total approximately $14 billion each. On March 31, the San Francisco...

By Sheridan Swanson

Challenging the Premise of Our Destruction

Challenging the Premise of Our Destruction

The most powerful and destructive perception in the world today is that using fossil fuels will cause catastrophic climate change. This belief, marketed by every major government and corporate institution in the Western world, is the foundational premise underlying a policy agenda of stunning indifference to the aspirations of ordinary people. The war on fossil...

By Edward Ring

Newsom Wisely Avoids Transit Bailout in May Budget Revise

Newsom Wisely Avoids Transit Bailout in May Budget Revise

Governor Newsom’s FY 2023-24 budget update included a larger projected deficit and more balancing measures than his January budget. But, despite pressure from Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and transit agencies, the May Revise excluded emergency funding for local bus and rail systems around the state. The agencies’ proposed transit bailout was at best premature,...

By Marc Joffe