Inside California’s Progressive “Dark Money” Machine: How Democrats Move Union Donations
Inside California’s Progressive “Dark Money” Machine: How Democrats Move Union Donations
Legal Update on Cayla J. v. State of California
Legal Update on Cayla J. v. State of California
On February 1, Public Counsel announced settlement of Cayla J. v. State of California, Alameda County Superior Court Case No. RG20084386. The LA Times explains the settlement in further detail. Nutshell California’s pandemic policies harmed children, especially minority students in low-income areas. The settlement includes a promise by State government defendants to propose legislation reallocating resources toward helping students most...
Newsom’s education budget lacks tangible targets
Newsom’s education budget lacks tangible targets
This month, Governor Newsom released his proposed state budget for 2024-25. The $291.5 billion budget proposal sets aside $76.5 billion in state funds for K-12 education. This amount exceeds the proposed budgeted costs for transportation ($19.55 billion); corrections and rehabilitation ($18.12 billion); general government ($10.68 billion); legislative, judicial, and executive agencies ($10.72 billion); natural resources...
Comparing the Delta Tunnel versus Desalination
Comparing the Delta Tunnel versus Desalination
Debates over the efficacy of water projects often focus on the monthly cost to end users. For example, in May 2022, a few days before the California Coastal Commission voted unanimously to deny the final permit to build a desalination plant in Huntington Beach, the influential Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzik fretted that it “might drive up the...
Bonta Pushes for Parental Consent on Social Media but Not in Schools
Bonta Pushes for Parental Consent on Social Media but Not in Schools
State Senator Nancy Skinner and Assembly Member Buffy Wicks (who both represent Oakland, fyi) stood alongside Attorney General Rob Bonta on Monday to talk about the ways social media companies exploit the developing adolescent mind. Which is true. A study from a decade ago published by the German Medical Association noted that adolescent brains have...
Several Inland Empire Cities Make Big Moves in 2020 Financial Rankings
Several Inland Empire Cities Make Big Moves in 2020 Financial Rankings
Using a simple metric, only six Inland Empire cities in California saw much movement in the fiscal rankings of its 52 cities for the year ending June 30, 2020 compared to the previous year (see “Every City in the Inland Empire Ranked According to Financial Health,” June 30, 2023). The majority stayed pretty much in...
Biden Takes a Destructive California Idea National
Biden Takes a Destructive California Idea National
The state’s laboratory of policy chaos has produced another misbegotten experiment for progressives to replicate elsewhere. Gavin Newsom doesn’t need to run for president in order to shape national policy. The Biden administration has made clear it’ll follow California off a cliff, taking Newsom’s campaign against independent contractors national with a March 2024 Department of Labor...
Despite Spending Billions on Climate-Change Initiatives, 84 Percent of California’s Energy Still Comes from Fossil Fuels
Despite Spending Billions on Climate-Change Initiatives, 84 Percent of California’s Energy Still Comes from Fossil Fuels
Here’s a reality check that ought to keep politicians up at night in California. Despite being a sunny, solar-friendly state, with ample areas blessed with high wind, California still derives 50 percent of its total energy from crude oil. Another 34 percent comes from natural gas. This fossil fuel total for California energy, 84 percent, actually...
Newsom’s Missed Opportunity on California’s Annual Budgets
Newsom’s Missed Opportunity on California’s Annual Budgets
During my business career as a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Financial Planner, I also served on a credit counseling nonprofit board and advised those who were deep in debt on a plan toward becoming fiscally sound again. During a good financial year, these individuals needed to dramatically reduce their existing debts. The unexpected bonus...
Half of California’s Energy Comes from Crude Oil
Half of California’s Energy Comes from Crude Oil
Here’s a reality check that ought to keep politicians up at night in California. Despite being a sunny, solar friendly state, with ample areas blessed with high wind, California still derives 50 percent of its total energy from crude oil. Another 34 percent comes from natural gas. This fossil fuel total for California energy, 84 percent,...
Want to Rule the World? Run for Local Office
Want to Rule the World? Run for Local Office
When interviewing for a legislative fellowship in Sacramento, California over two decades ago, the panel asked about my career plans. I worked through a progression I thought was essential for any aspiring politico, concluding confidently that I was eventually going to run for Congress. In my mind, that’s where all the important political action was....
The Klamath Basin ‘Restoration’ is at What Cost?
The Klamath Basin ‘Restoration’ is at What Cost?
If you scan news reports and search results for Klamath Dams removal, the news is universally upbeat. “The river will run free again.” “A step towards justice.” “Largest river restoration project in American history!” But as waters now drain out of the reservoirs behind these half-demolished dams for the last time, unanswered questions persist. How...
Celebrate National School Choice Week at CPC’s Parent Union School Choice Fairs
Celebrate National School Choice Week at CPC’s Parent Union School Choice Fairs
Celebrate National School Choice Week at CPC Parent Union school choice fairs. CPC Parent Union is teaming up with National School Choice Week to host two school choice fairs in Southern California. Join us from 10am-2pm on Saturday, January 20th, 2024 at Vista Charter Middle School in Los Angeles and Saturday, January 27, 2024, at...
Water Rationing: The Worst Way to Build Resiliency
Water Rationing: The Worst Way to Build Resiliency
When a public policy decision is flawed, and the reasons it is flawed are simple and obvious, and the consequences are huge and costly, the appropriate response for a concerned observer is to call attention to the looming debacle. Not just once, but over and over and over again. An example of an impending economic...