With inflation outpacing earnings, questions are being raised over the extent to which California energy policy is contributing to higher prices on electricity and other essentials that affect Californians struggling with pandemic-related economic realities.
The California Citizens Redistricting Commission (CRC) has submitted final maps to the Secretary of State, raising questions about how the new voting districts may change the political landscape in the 2022 election year.
As Californians and families nationwide struggle with rising prices, concerns persist about the extent to which federal relief programs have increased barriers to economic opportunity and contributed to historic inflation
With more than 100 cargo ships idle off the coast of California, concerns persist about the immediate impact on families and businesses and how AB 5 and other state-specific regulations have exacerbated the situation.
As the California legislative session wrapped up, a new law was signed to provide exemptions for certain professions from AB5, while others have been pursuing relief in the court system.
With power grid and energy source reliability at the forefront of California concerns, questions persist about the state’s current efforts at sustaining supply to meet demand.
With the Dixie, Caldor, and several other fires causing California residents to evacuate, questions continue about what the state’s water storage goals are, and why an oversight hearing and wildfire legislation has been stalled.
With a new poll showing 52% of people feel the state has performed poorly on homelessness, cities conflicted about affordable housing, and eviction bans winding down, questions persist about how the new $12 billion in state spending can fix the growing issue of unhoused residents in California.
Record spending in the 2021-22 state budget is prompting questions about the sustainability of such funding levels in the future without reducing services or raising taxes.
As electricity demands increase this summer, The Pacific Research Institute (PRI) has launched a new website to encourage energy competition that leads to more affordability, innovation, and climate change solutions.
With the end of the school year roughly two months away, questions persist about how many schools will be returning to in-person instruction absent a specific mandate to do so.
As gig economy restrictions have been reintroduced at the federal level, a new analysis has found such platforms crucial to helping businesses and workers recover from the COVID-19 economic downturn.
A new analysis, "Nickel and Dimed: Cell Phone Fees to Mattress Fees – How Californians’ Money is Really Being Spent," examines the high costs residents pay for government services, offers solutions for reform, and suggests eliminating such fees could help with economic recovery.
With California now predicting it could take months longer than anticipated to vaccinate people ages 65 and older, a health policy expert said a wider distribution network could improve efficacy and help the state advance further in its economic recovery.
As final agreements on the new COVID-19 stimulus package were negotiated last week, crucial help for businesses and families was approved alongside projects having less to do with economic recovery.
The current COVID-19 health crisis and drug affordability has put growing attention on the practice of rebate walls – in which drug manufacturers provide volume-based discounts to insurers and pharmacy benefit managers (PBM) – because it’s also kept lower-cost prescriptions off the market.
California’s new curfew is not as strict as a stay-at-home order, but it has raised concerns that a more restrictive mandate could still be implemented, and at least one sprawling county has indicated plans to sue to allow areas without high COVID-19 case rates to operate with fewer restrictions.
With the outcome for a new COVID-19 financial stimulus package still in flux, concerns about the lasting economic damage have heightened the longer the legislative stalemate goes on.
With parents across the state trying to help their children navigate the complexities of schoolwork amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, recently discussed a proposed school choice law as a means to help families during and beyond the public health crisis.
As California wraps up two weeks of not accepting new unemployment claims while addressing fraud and backlog, how to address every issue without further disruption in benefits for legitimate claimants remains unclear.
