History repeats itself, Karl Marx wrote, “First as tragedy, then as farce.” But he didn’t say what happens the third time, when tragic farce strikes again and the whole benighted process repeats itself. Take the case of Julie Su, President Joe Biden’s acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor. In the past four years,...
Earlier this month, California Assemblyman Isaac Bryan of Los Angeles introduced a bill, Assembly Bill 7, which would affect admissions for the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) systems. The legislation would require the state’s public colleges to “consider providing a preference in admissions to an applicant who is a descendant of...
They may not care much about education, but give teacher union leaders in the city of Orange, California, credit for speed and political ingenuity. Shortly after a successful March recall campaign in which leaders of the Orange Unified Education Association replaced two conservatives with two union-backed trustees, the newly configured board promptly awarded teachers a...
Leadership in the California Legislature claim they’re aware of the cost of living and doing business in the state. In the special session called by Governor Newsom to “Trump proof” the state, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D, Salinas) said “We must chart a new path forward and renew the California Dream by focusing on affordability.” We welcome...
California Policy Center has filed an amicus brief supporting the City of Huntington Beach’s petition for rehearing en banc in the City’s challenge to California’s unconstitutional housing mandates. A three-judge panel denied relief to Huntington Beach due to the South Lake Tahoe rule, a Ninth Circuit precedent that prohibits local governments like cities and school...
As reported in Politico on 10/29, “Westlands Water District, which supplies some of California’s driest farmland in the Central Valley, is making plans to convert some 200 square miles of it — an area roughly the size of Detroit — into what would be the largest solar installation in the world.” The motivation for this is understandable enough....
By Truman Angell for the California Policy Center The California legislature has a habit of giving away its own power to regulatory agencies and ABX2-1 is another in a long line of such abdications. The new law, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in October after he called a special legislative session, is generally understood as...
Farmers in the San Joaquin Valley require roughly 15 million acre feet of water per year to irrigate their crops. In return they produce more than half of all California’s agricultural output. But everything is changing. Since 2000 the amount of water the farmers receive from the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project has...
We don’t generally discuss national politics here at CPC World HQ – we’ve got our hands full dealing with Gov. Gavin Newsom and his confederacy of dunces in the state capitol. But let’s acknowledge some of President-elect Donald Trump’s great choices for key administration positions – including Scott Bessent at Treasury, Chris Wright at Energy,...
As we celebrate one of America’s finest traditions this week, one of the things we are surely thankful for is the energy we often take for granted. We are particularly lucky in America, because the energy we use is nearly always reliable and abundant. Just how abundant? Here are some numbers. Most energy economists report...
With national election results that have delivered a surprisingly unequivocal result, California’s business interests now find themselves on a political tightrope. On one side, the incoming Trump administration will pursue deregulation that may help businesses remain in California, and on the other side, the Newsom administration is going to do everything in its power to...
With national election results that have delivered a surprisingly unequivocal result, California’s business interests now find themselves on a political tightrope. On one side, the incoming Trump administration will pursue deregulation that may help businesses remain in California, and on the other side, the Newsom administration is going to do everything in its power to...
Interactive Database Reveals which Local Governments are Fiscally Sound or at High-Risk of Fiscal Crisis As of November 19, 2024, California Policy Center has updated its General Fund Reserves scoring to give maximum credit to entities whose unrestricted reserves equal 32% of general fund expenses. This replaces the previous scale, which ranged up to a 75%...
On November 8, a Friday evening, after a day long marathon of public comment, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved updates to the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard. According to the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, the price impact of compliance with the new rules “could be $0.65 per gallon in the near term, $0.85 per gallon...