Brandon Ristoff works as a Policy Analyst at the California Policy Center. Brandon earned his bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts from Thomas Aquinas College, studying the Great Books of Western Civilization. In 2019, he graduated with a Master of Public Policy degree from Pepperdine University’s School of Public Policy, specializing in applied economic policy. In 2020, he graduated with a M.S. in Applied Statistics from Loyola University Chicago. He has written on California’s COVID-19 reopening, education, and the California Exodus. He is in charge of the California Book of Exoduses, tracking all of the individuals and businesses leaving California because of the state’s burdensome policies.
The California Union Watch Twitter account (@CalUnionWatch) has been tracking government union contributions over the first quarter of this year (January 1, 2022 through March 31, 2022). Here are the five biggest union contributors from this year so far. We will be only focusing on state-level elections. 5. California Professional Firefighters The California Professional Firefighters...
With the recent Sacramento City Unified strike, the California Policy Center conducted an analysis which compared Sacramento City Unified teacher salaries to nearby Elk Grove Unified. Looking at 2020 data from Transparent California, we found that Sacramento City Unified’s average regular pay for their teachers is between $81,344 and $84,407 which is about $2,000 and...
Despite what some politicians in Sacramento might tell you, California is not known for its fiscal sustainability. Last year, the Golden State received an “F” for fiscal health from financial watchdog Truth in Accounting. The group calculated that California has a $264 billion deficit, which translates to $21,100 per taxpayer. The analysis turns the narrative...
There are a lot of reasons for public school parents to be disappointed in their schools. The lack of an in-person option last school year, strict COVID mandates, and more have caused a growing number of parents to consider alternatives to public school education. Whatever the reason, more and more parents are considering homeschooling their...
Over the past few months, Los Angeles and San Francisco have continued to make it hard for restaurants to return back to normal in the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Both cities brought back mask mandates only a couple of months after California “reopened” last June. They also instituted rules requiring certain businesses, including...
Take at look at the California Book of Exoduses: HERE Another year in the books and unlike the pandemic, the California Exodus shows no signs of slowing down. In February, we started the California Book of Exoduses, a – mostly – comprehensive list of all the notable names that took their lives and companies to...
Planning to see some smiles while carrying out last-minute shopping? Forget about it. The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) indoor mask mandate has reinstated the indoor mask mandate today for all Californians, regardless of vaccination status, from December 15 through January 15 (and possibly longer). In a December 13 press release, CDPH said, “Since...
Some LAUSD parents received a surprise early Monday: over 130 emails naming students exempted from the district’s testing policy because they recently recovered from COVID-19. The watchdog group UTLA Uncensored revealed the gaff on their Twitter account. According to UTLA Uncensored, the two parents they have found who have received these emails found their child’s...
Thousands of parents and students took part in a school walkout across the state on Monday protesting Governor Newsom’s school vaccine mandate. Many of them came to the state Capitol in Sacramento for a rally called “Our Children, Our Choice,” and many more rallied in their home districts, leaving some school districts to mark notable...
Elon Musk made waves last week when he announced during a shareholder meeting that Tesla Motors will move its headquarters from Palo Alto, California to Austin, Texas. While Tesla’s move in particular isn’t terribly surprising (the company announced last year that its new gigafactory will be located in Austin, and Musk himself recently relocated there...
Who is leaving California? A study by the California Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) has determined the type of people who are leaving California. While the media has been mostly focusing on the wealthiest people, the people who have actually left the state are typically lower and middle class people and tend to be under the...
There was a time when California Democrats worried about money in politics. But that anxiety has eased with the rising tide of money — lots of money — flowing into Democrat political campaigns from government unions. It’s important to note that campaign donations do not work in a recall as they do in a traditional...
When you think about the best-paid gigs in the San Francisco Bay Area, you might be thinking of the tech industry. But check out firefighting in San Ramon, just east of the Silicon Valley. In 2020, the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District — which covers 155 square-miles in Contra Costa County and serves a...
Over the past few months, Governor Gavin Newsom has insisted California’s economy is “roaring back.” But, is it? First, let’s consider the unemployment rate. “Roaring back” might suggest Californians are finally back to work, but California’s unemployment rate is second-to-last, standing at 7.6% for July 2021. To put this into perspective, the United States has...