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Opinion Headlines

  1. California politics.  “Brother, Can You Spare a Job?” by Neel Kashkari, Repub. Candidate for gov. 7-31-14
  2. California water supply.   “Government Dries Up California’s Water Supply.”  6-27-14
  3. California’s Democratic Derailment. [Politicians ignore the legal caveats that voters added to the bullet train.] 9-13-14
  4. California. LTE. “Rail Authority Is on the Proper Track” by Dan Richard, Chair, Calif. High-Speed Rail.   9-22-14
  5. California. LTE. “California Rail on the Wrong Track.” 9-30-14
  6. California’s School Reform Insurgency. [A Democrat challenges a union factotum for schools superintendent.] 10-20-2014
  7. California Water Supply. “The West Needs a Water Market to Fight Drought.” By Robt. Glennon et.al. [Outdated laws are wasting the region’s scarcest resource. Water should be tradable so it finds it most urgent uses.]   10-24-14
  8. California. “Silicon Valley’s Reform Breakthrough.” [A pension reformer wins in San Jose against the union machine.] 11-11-14
  9. California. “Playing Chicken With Tax Dollars and Tuition in California.” By Allysia Finley. [ It’s Jerry Brown versus Janet Napolitano in a Democratic war over the state’s surplus and spending priorities.] 11-22-14
  10. California’s Water Blockage. [The White House threatens to veto even modest drought relief.] 12-9-14
  11. California. LTE. “A Balanced Approach to the Drought.” By Sen. Barbara Boxer. 12-12-14.
  12. California. “A California Assault on Free Speech That Would Shock the Founders.” [The state’s attorney general is attempting to silence a foundation that educates Americans on free markets.] 12-20-14
  13. California. “California’s Scrambled Eggs.” [The state’s new chicken-coop law is hitting human beings hard.] 1-26-15
  14. California. LTE. “Popular California Chicken-Roosting Law is Worth It.” 1-29-15
  15. California. “California Dreamin’ of a Legacy.” By Michael J. Boskin. [Jerry Brown’s popularity isn’t in doubt, but his fiscal record is. He still has time to put the state on solid footing.] 2-9-15
  16. California. “No Water for You.” [The man-made drought continues even after rains in California.] 2-14-15
  17. California. LTE. “Calpers Performs Its Fiduciary Duty.” 2-24-15
  18. California. LTE. “Water, Water for the Fish, Nor Any Drop for Farmers.” 2-21-15
  19. California. LTE. “It’s Not Just Farmers vs. the Greenies.” […drought…water] 2-28-15
  20. California. “When Unions Trump Hospitals.” [California AG Kamala Harris reveals her political priorities.] 3-19-15
  21. California. “How ‘Virtual Water’ Can Help Ease California’s Drought.” By Bill Davidow et.al. [Market incentives will reverse the economic logic that drives local farmers to plant more water-intensive crops.] 3-20-15
  22. Calif. LTE. “’Virtual Water’ and Smarter Policy.” 3-27-15
  23. Calif. “California’s Green Drought.” [How bad policies are compounding the state’s water shortage.] 4-6-15
  24. Calif. “Why Food Prices Are Drought-Resistant.” By Tim York et.al. [California farmers are using a variety of tactics to stay competitive in a global marketplace.] 4-13-15
  25. Calif. LTE. “A Drought of Good Sense as Well as Water in California” 4-14-15
  26. Calif. “California’s Water Woes Are Priceless.” By Holman W. Jenkins.   [“…the real problem is a non-price allocation system that guarantees waste, shortages and political fights over water.”] 4-15-15
  27. California. Book Review: “California Scheming.” Review by John Buntin. “Water to the Angels” by Les Standiford. [Ranchers and farmers saw the L.A. aqueduct as tantamount to theft. Yet someone had to give up water so that Angelenos might drink.] 4-22-15
  28. California. LTE. “The California Drought and the Law.” 4-24-15
  29. California. “Forget the Missing Rainfall, California. Where’s the Delta Smelt? By Allysia Finley. [Guided by bad science, regulators are flushing away millions of gallons of water to protect a three-inch fish.] 4-27-15
  30. California. “Corinthian’s Last Rites.” [The feds and Kamala Harris put 16,000 students on the street.] 4-28-15
  31. California. “My California Water Is an Undiluted Bargain.” By Richard B. McKenzie. [I pay $0.002 per gallon. Why not raise the price and increase my incentive to conserve?] 5-5-15
  32. California. “Hetch Hetchy Makes San Franciscans a Touch Tetchy.” By Allysia Finley. [Environmentalists want to tear down a dam, but their usual liberal allies balk at surrendering the water.] 5-9-15
  33. California. LTE “Better Toilets and California’s Growing Water Problems.” 5-14-15
  34. California. “Slaking California’s Thirst – if Politics Allows.” “The Weekend Interview” with Carlos Riva” by Allysia Finley. [Israel solved its water woes in five years by desalination. A CEO explains why it took him 10 years to build a single plant near San Diego.] 5-16-15
  35. California. LTE. “Hetch Hetchy Plan Embodies Differences on Greenery.” 5-16-15
  36. California. “The Assisted-Suicide Movement Goes on Life Support.” By Aaron Kheriaty. [A George Soros-backed effort in California has stalled, the latest sign of weak backing for the deadly practice.] 5-23-15
  37. California. “Public-Pension Potholes in Wine Country Paradise.” By Stephen Eide. [Sonoma voters are being asked to raise taxes to fix roads – while public workers savor sweet retirement deals.] 5-30-15
  38. California. “California Party Time.” [Sacramento spends its tax revenue gusher like there’s no tomorrow.]   6-1-15
  39. California. “The Political Assault on California’s Saint.” By Allysia Finley. [The pope will canonize Junipero Serra this year, but liberals want him purged from the Capitol.] 6-5-15
  40. California. “California’s Uber Raid.” [A state regulator tries to blow up the ‘sharing economy.’] 6-22-15
  41. California. “The Coalition to Arm California’s Democratic Moderates.” By Allysia Finley. [A loose network of Bay Area investors is challenging the public-union leviathan.] 7-2-15
  42. Calif. “Sky-High California Gas Prices Have a Green Additive.” By Allysia Finley. [The national average is $2.76 a gallon, while Golden State drivers pay $3.88, Eco-virtue is expensive.] 7-18-15
  43. California. LTE. “California Drought Dries Up More Than the Crops.” 8-7-15
  44. California. “Calpers vs. Voters.” [The union-run pension fund tries to stop a reform referendum.] 9-13-15
  45. California. Energy Policy. “Obama’s Wind-Energy Lobby Gets Blown Away.” By Robert Bryce. [A California judge rules in favor of bald eagles and against 30-year permits to shred them.] 8-19-15
  46. California. “Tom Steyer’s Stimulus,” [A California green scheme fails to create jobs or save energy.] 8-19-15
  47. California. LTE “California’s Prop. 39 Is a Winner.” 8-22-15
  48. California. “California’s Climate Change Revolt.” [Democrats reject green schemes that raise energy costs for the non-rich.] 9-12-15
  49. California. Education. “The Education Gangs of Los Angeles.” (The Weekend Interview with Alfonso Flores, by Allysia Finley) [Meet the decorated former Green Beret who is rallying Los Angeles parents to fight the unions and reform the worst public schools, one school at a time.] 9-12-15
  50. California. “Carbon, Wind And Fire.” [California’s wildfires undo Jerry Brown’s anticarbon planning.] 9-17-15
  51. California. “How To Lower U.S. Living Standards.” By Robert Bryce. [The drastic ’80 by 50’ goal would reduce the energy use of Californians to that of North Koreans today.] 9-22-15
  52. California. “The ‘Wage Gap’ Myth that won’t Die.” By Sarah Ketterer. [You have to ignore many variables to think women are paid less than men. California is happy to try.] 10-1-15
  53. Calif. LTE. “There Were Many Reasons For California Tribes’ Loss.” 10-2-15 [See #39, 6-5-15, above]
  54. Calif. “Planting a Pro-Union Ruling Down on the Farm.” By Allysia Finley. [Employees keep trying to boot the United Farm Workers, but California’s labor board won’t allow it.] 10-3-15
  55. California. “California’s Diesel Rule Scam.” [The state imposes a rule based on phony science on all U.S. truckers.] 10-19-15
  56. California. LTE. “Our Diesel Rule is Sensible, and Clean Air Is No Scam.” 10-24-15
  57. California. LTE. “A Closer Look at California’s Diesel Rules.” 11-7-15
  58. California. “California Dreamin’ – of Lower Prices at the Pump.” By Jacob R. Borden. [Thanks to Golden State bureaucrats, Californians will continue to pay a premium for energy.] 11-12-15
  59. California. “Go Live Elsewhere, We’re Cutting Carbon Here.” By Allysia Finley. [The Newhall Ranch project near Los Angeles is green but not green enough for the antidevelopment crowd.] 12-28-15
  60. California. LTE. “Gov. Pete Wilson Didn’t Turn California Blue.” 1-15-16
  61. California. LTE. “Lawns Have a Part to Play, Even in a Drought.”   [“…even if the landscaping in the state were removed, California would reduce its total water usage by only 9%…] 2-5-16
  62. California. “California inequality Act.” [A $15 minimum wage will widen the state’s economic divide.] 3-30-16
  63. California. Unions. “A Stiff Jab at Flexible Work Schedules.” By Michael Saltsman. [After the California minimum-wage increase, next up is dictating when employees do their jobs.] 3-30-16
  64. California. “Trying to Get Water to California But Torpedoed by Regulators.” By Allysia Finley. [The Obama administration and Dianne Feinstein keep blocking a private project to aid the still-parched state.] 4-9-16
  65. California. Unions. LTE. “Flexible Schedules vs. Workers’ Burdened Life.” 4-11-16.  (See 3 63, here)
  66. California. “California’s Water Injustice.” [Despite El Nino rains, the Feds keep favoring fish over farmers.] 4-15-16
  67. California. LTE. “Many Don’t Want More Water in California.” 4-15-16
  68. California. “Orange County’s Political Divide Has Officials Seeing Red.” By Steven Greenhut. [Inland residents are trying to roll back taxes – but the idea is portrayed as a coup by rich beach dwellers.] 4-16-16
  69. California. LTE. “The Cadiz Water Project Is the Wrong Answer.” 4-16-16
  70. California. “Free Speech 1, Kamala Harris 0.” [A federal judge blocks an attempt to disclose conservative donors.] 4-22-16
  71. California. LTE. “California Water Project Is the Right Answer.” 4-27-16 [ by Rep. Tom McClintock on the Cadiz water project]
  72. California. LTE. “Is California Trying to Drive Its Jobs Away?” 4-28-16
  73. California. “Jerry Brown’s Budget Blowout.” [After spending the last tax increase, he sets up California for another.] 5-19-16
  74. California. “The Union Minimum Wage Windfall.” [California’s $15 hourly rate will put money in labor’s pockets, no collective bargaining required.] 5-20-16
  75. California. “California’s Bullet Train to Whenever.” [Maybe the choo-choo will be built someday, heading somewhere.] 5-23-16
  76. California. “California’s Cap-and-Trade Bubble.”  [The carbon-credit market sputters, as it also has in Europe.]  5-31-16
  77. California. “California Liberals Await the Bernie Effect.”  By Allysia Finley. [Sanders could boost liberal Democrats in down-ballot races, pulling the state even further leftward.] 6-3-16
  78. California. “Pushback Against Government Raids on Personal Property.”  By Lee McGrath and Nick Sibilla.  [California lawmakers are on the cusp of passing reforms to rein in civil-asset forfeitures.]  6-4-16
  79. California. LTE.  “California’s Cap-and-Trade Law Is a Success.”  6-9-16  (See 5-31-16, #76, here)
  80. California. “Liberals and Equal Protection.” [Will California judges hear a case challenging teacher tenure?}  6-10-16
  81. California. “To California’s Insurance Regulator, Green is Job One.”  By Holman W Jenkins, Jr.  [Aiming for higher office, Dave Jones misuses his authority to ban insurer’s coal investments.]  6-11-16
  82. California. “Homeless Next to Whole Foods:  San Fran’s Progressive Predicament.” By Andy Kessler.  [Transients and tech CEOs, living side by side.  The city knows it has a problem, but nothing seems to work.]  6-25-16
  83. California. LTE “Homeless Are the Tip of San Francisco Iceberg.”  7-2-16
  84. California. “Bending Religious Colleges to Secular Rules.”  By Michael Helfand.  [An antidiscrimination law in California would force judges to discern the nature of faith.]  7-15-16
  85. California. “California’s Charter School Mugging.”  [Politicians punish a company for resisting unionizing its schools.]  7-18-16
  86. California. “California’s Cow Police.” [Progressives find a new climate-change villain to regulate.]  8-13-16
  87. California. “The Pipeline and the Short Seller.”  [Emails show a federal regulator shared non-public information with an investor.]  8-17-16
  88. California. Education. “Students Lose, Liberals Elated.” [California denies a constitutional challenge to failing schools.] 8-23-16
  89. California. “California Has An IRA for You.” [Sacramento creates a new public option for private workers that politicians control.] 8-24-16
  90. California. LTE. “California IRAs: Private-Worker Pensions?” 8-26-16California. “Taxpayer Political Financing by Decree.” [California lawmakers rewrite a voter ban without voter assent.] 9-16-16
  91. California. “Left-right Win in California.” [A rare coalition comes together to limit civil forfeiture.]  10-3-16
  92. California. “Jerry Brown’s Train Wreck.”  [The governor doesn’t want anyone looking under the railroad track.]  10-3-16
  93. California. LTE.  “Would ‘Positive Control’ Stop Brown’s Train?”  10-7-16
  94. California. “California’s Bad Example for Criminal-Justice Reformers.”  By Allysia Finley.  [Prop. 47, which kept petty criminals out of jail, stands as a warning about unintended consequences.]  10-8-16
  95. California. “Tom Steyer’s Smoke Signals.”  […potential candidate for Calif. Governor…]  10-15-16
  96. California. “The Terms of Surrender in California’s Tax Revolt.”  By Joel Fox.  [The state with Prop. 13 has at least three tax hikes on the ballot this year, and more are in the works.]  10-27-16
  97. California. “The Next California Drug Cartel.”  [A ballot initiative won’t save money but will hurt patients.]  11-7-16
  98. California. “The Barbara Boxer Water Rebellion.”  [The Democratic Ted Cruz tries to scuttle a bipartisan drought bill.]  12-8-16
  99. California. “Uncomfortable Truths Behind California’s Economic Surge.”  By Allysia Finley.  [Cheap fossil fuels ease the cost of its green agenda.  But the middle class still can’t afford to live there.”] 1-7-17
  100. California vs. Trump. [Eric Holder and his white-shoe law firm discover federalism.]  1-11-17
  101. California. “California’s Big Dig.”  [Elaine Chao can take the train to Fresno off life support.]  1-17-17
  102. California. “In California, ‘Paper or Plastic?’ Is Against the Law.”  By Allysia Finley.  [Supermarkets can no longer give out shopping bags, though the claimed benefits are dubious.)  1-28-17
  103. California. “California’s Climate Change.” [A state worried about drought now frets about too much water.] 2-16-17
  104. California. “Amid the Downpour, California’s Regulatory Drought Continues.” By Jean Sagouspe. [Dams are spilling over, but decades of meddling by green groups means the water can’t get to my farm.] 2-25-17
  105. California. “Chao’s Choo-Choo Stop.” [A $647 million grant two days before Obama left the White House.] 3-6-17
  106. California. “California’s Teacher Tax Break.” [Sacramento moves to exempt public-school teachers from state income tax.] 3-16-17
  107. California. “California’s Wasted Winter Rains.” [The drought is over but the Greens keep sending the water out to sea.] 4-6-17
  108. California. Unions.  “Big Labor Looks at California’s Marijuana Market and Sees Green.”  By Allysia Finley.  [‘This is a growing industry,’ says a Teamsters lobbyist, ‘and we’d like it to grow unionized.’]  5-6-17
  109. California. “California’s Runaway train.”  [The state indulges in some environmental doublespeak.]  5-17-17
  110. California. Education.  “Los Angeles Charter Uprising.”  [Voters elect a pro-reform majority on the local school board.]  5-22-17
  111. California. Obamacare.  “California Single-Payer Dreaming.”  [Sacramento offers a preview of the 2020 Democratic platform.]  5-27-17
  112. California. “California’s ‘Free’ Health Care Won’t Come Cheap.”  By Sally C. Pipes.  [The state may implement a single-payer system – meaning substandard care, wait lists and new taxes.]  6-2-17
  113. California. Obamacare. LTE.  “California Dreaming:  Is Single-Payer Right?”  6-6-2017
  114. California. “Made in California – but Not the USA?”  by Anthony Maglica.  [My company manufactures flashlights in the Golden State – but Sacramento considers them foreign.]  6-8-17
  115. California. Obamacare.  “A Single-Payer Test Drive.”  [If Democrats are serious, why not try it out in California.]  6-12-17
  116. California. “Notable & Quotable: California Socialism.”  (From “California’s Descent to Socialism” by Joel Kotkin in the Orange County Register, June 11.)  [“The oligarchs of the Bay Area have a problem:  They must square their progressive worldview with their enormous wealth…]  6-13-17
  117. California. LTE. “California Dreams of Single-Payer Medicine.”  6-16-17
  118. California. “Rep.-Elect Jimmy Gomez, Your Seat Is Getting Cold.”  By Kevin McCarthy.  [Democratic arrogance in Sacramento leaves California voters without a member of Congress.]  6-30-17
  119. California. “California’s Rise and Fall, From One Gov. Brown to Another.”  By Joel Engel.  [Jerry Brown is the opposite of his father, who made the golden State the most livable in the country.]  7-1-17
  120. California. “California’s One-Party State.”  [Democrats try to rig a recall election to keep a supermajority.]  7-10-17
  121. California. “California’s Cap-and-Trade Problem.”  [“…Mr. Brown wants Republicans to provide the votes he needs to extend cap and trade..  GOP support would let Democrats in competitive districts off the hook…”]  7-14-17
  122. California. “California’s climate Cap and Spend.”  [Republicans let Jerry Brown raise energy prices again.]  7-19-17
  123. California.   “Medicaid’s Potemkin Health Coverage.”  By Allysia Finley.  [California is a case study:  One patient suing the state says she went to Mexico to her gall bladder out.]  7-19-17
  124. California. “California Says Tesla Is Too Big to Fail.”  By Holman w. Jenkins, Jr.  [State Democrats can’t stop throwing taxpayer money at the electric vehicle wunderkind.]  7-22-17
  125. California. LTE.  “Golden State’s Medi-Cal Is Not That Golden.”  7-27-17  [“…Plan A for all Medicaid reform was to do away with fee-for-service payments and put all the Medicaid patients into managed-care plans.  Now that appears to be a failed experiment in California and most other states…”]
  126. California. “Plaintiff Attorney Marijuana Raid.”  [Progressive potheads see a gold mine in reefer.  So do the lawyers.]  8-19-17
  127. California. “Behind the Bedlam in Berkeley.”  [Antifa activists believe in censorship and don’t rule out violence, as they showed again Sunday.]  8-29-17
  128. California. “L.A.’s Gift to Trump.”  [The city council bans Columbus Day, echoing the Ku Klux Klan.]  9-1-17
  129. California. “The Price of Free Speech at Berkeley.”  [Security for Ben Shapiro’s speech cost more than $600,000.]  9-16-17
  130. California. “California Democrats Target Tesla.”  [In the Sunshine State, the left loves unions even more than electric cars.]  9-18-17
  131. California. “Why housing Is Unaffordable in California.”  By Allysia Finley.  [What could really help is deregulation, but residents aren’t likely to get it from Democratic lawmakers.]  9-30-17
  132. California. LTE.  “California’s Emigres Are Everyone’s Concern.”  [“…The government of California provides the finest examples of lack of basic understanding of Economics 101…”]  10-10-17
  133. California. “The Fatal Flaw in California’s Cap-and-Trade Program.”  By Richard Sexton and Steven Sexton.  [Emitters can just leave – which is why the state has now delayed carbon’s real day of reckoning to 2030.] 10-21-17
  134. California. “High on Incentives.” [“…citizens now have a much clearer view of the unintended consequences that come from high tax rates.”]  11-2-17
  135. California. “What the Sam Hill Are Cows Doing on Sand Hill Road?” by Lee E. Ohanian and Edward C. Prescott.  [They’re eating the priciest grass in America, thanks to California’s out-of-control land-use rules.]  12-2-17
  136. California. “Jerry Brown’s Pension Epiphany.”  [Reality bites as the state and local tax deduction may vanish.]  12-8-17
  137. California. “California’s Political Fires.”  [The state’s wildfires are overwhelming its anticarbon pieties.”  12-23-17
  138. California. “California’s Affirmative Action for ‘Marijuana Entrepreneurs.’” By Jason L. Riley. [Los Angeles, Oakland and other cities create ‘equity programs’ to help minority ex-cons get into legal pot.] 1-10-18
  139. California. “California’s Political Charity.” [Democrats propose a gimmick to help the rich avoid federal taxes.] 1-13-18
  140. California. “The #MeToo Ethos Comes to California Judicial Elections.” By Jason Willick. [Voters may oust the judge who sentenced a freshman Stanford swimmer to six months for sexual assault.] 2-24-18 (“…The campaign has shaped up as a battle between progressive populists and the legal elite…”)
  141. California. “California’s Democratic Tea Party.” [Diane Feinstein and Antonio Villaraigosa aren’t left enough.] 2-27-18
  142. California. “California’s Water Hole.” [Regulators resist storage that would save for a non-rainy day.] 3-7-18
  143. California. “When Jerry Brown Tried to Keep Immigrants Out of California.” By Joseph D’Hippolito. [In 1975 the new governor found ‘something a little strange’ about welcoming Vietnamese refugees.] 3-10-18
  144. California. “Testing California’s Sanctuary Laws.” By Ilya Shapiro and Josh Blackman. [The state should be able to forbid local officials, but not private citizens, from cooperating with the feds.] 3-14-18
  145. California. “A Cancer Scare Defeat in California.” [“…Providing false or misleading labels to consumers also undermines California’s interest in accurately informing citizens…”] 3-15-18
  146. California. LTE. “California Needs a Better Approach to Water.” 3-17-18
  147. California. “Marijuana Supply-Siders.” [California pot growers deplore the heavy hand of the state.]   3-24-18
  148. California. “Attack of the Killer Cappuccino.” [Californians can look forward to cancer warnings on coffee.] 3-31-18
  149. California. “California: A ‘Sanctuary’ for Criminals.” By Michelle Park Steel. [The state threw out the rule of law, but Orange County will join the resistance.] 4-4-18
  150. California. “Saving L.A.’s Street Vendors.” [The City Council may soon make these entrepreneurs legal. ] 5-5-18
  151. California.  “Why California Leaves its Homeless Out in the Sun.”  by Allysia Finley.  [Residents don’t like the encampments, but neither do they want shelters built in their backyards.]  5-12-18
  152. California.  “California Prays to the Sun God.”  [The state finds another way to make housing less affordable.]  5-12-18
  153. California. LTE. “Sun Smiles if You Can Pay the Up-Front Cost.” 5-16-18 (Re: Calif. mandate on solar energy for new homes.)
  154. California. “The Hostile Occupation of Carlos Lopez’s House.” By Rikka Fountain. [Under California law, deadbeat tenants and even squatters can ruin working-class landlords.] 6-2-18
  155. California. “Why California Is Losing Teachers and Laying Off Secretaries.” By Allysia Finley. [Sacramento is flush, but cities and school distracts can’t keep up with rising public pension costs.] 6-30-18
  156. California. “How a Rich Californian Hijacked the Legislature.” By Thomas M. Boyd. [Threatened with a ballot initiative, lawmakers pass a ruinous data-privacy law.] 7-5-18
  157. California. “California’s Mortgage Fraud.” [“…Another mistake was pretending that a court-approved bank handout would escape California’s political spending maw…”] 7-16-18
  158. California.  “High and Dry in Pasadena.”  [California cities game fiscal emergencies to raise taxes.]  7-30-18
  159. California.  “Fire and Water in California.”  [The state spends 10 times more on electric car subsidies than on dead tree clearing.]  8-8-18
  160. California.  “The Phony Numbers Behind California’s Solar Mandate.”  By Steven Sexton.  [A state-hired consultant lowballed the costs and assumed massive subsidies in estimating benefits.]  8-13-18
  161. California.  “San Francisco vs. the Fish.”  [The city is learning how Central Valley farmers feel.]  8-24-18
  162. California.  “The Transgender Language War.”  By Abigail Shrier.  [California threatens to jail health workers who refuse to use ‘preferred’ pronouns.]  8-30-18
  163. California.  “If California Was Serious About Climate.”  By Holman W. Jenkins, Jr.  [Its pockets are deep enough to cool the planet if politicians believe their doom-mongering.]  9-1-18
  164. California.  “100% Certifiable California.”  [Democrats now want to ban all fossil fuels from the electrical grid.]  9-10-18
  165. California.  “California’s Corporate Quotas.”  [A Bill in Sacramento would dictate the gender of company directors.]  9-11-18
  166. California.  “California’s Carbon Exorcism.”  [graph: “Californians Pay More” comparing residential cost of electricity to various benchmarks.]  9-12-18
  167. California.  “Golden State Dynasty.”  (Bookshelf by Julia Flynn Siler.)  “The Browns of California.”  By Miriam Pawel.  [Four generations of Browns, including father-and -son governors Pat and Jerry, have helped to shape the politics and culture of California.]  9-17-18
  168. California.  “California Farmers Are Trade-War Casualties.”  By Allysia Finley.  [China imposes retaliatory tariffs on pistachios, almonds and wine, while Canada is taxing ketchup.]  9-20-18
  169. California.  “California’s Mortgage Raid.”  [Jerry Brown and the Legislature refuse to honor a court order.]  9-24-18
  170. California.  “California Breaks the Internet.”  [Sacramento wants to regulate the web nationwide.]  10-9-18
  171. California.  “Jack Dorsey’s Homeless Mugging.”  [The Twitter CEO makes sense on taxes, gets pounded by the left.]  10-15-18 (Re: a San Francisco referendum doubling business gross receipts tax)
  172. California.  “California Democrats Test the Limits of Anti-Trumpism.”  By Allysia Finley.  [They want to campaign on national issues, but voters are focused on progressive failures closer to home.]  10-20-18
  173. California.  “Trump’s California Water Relief.”  [A much-needed review to allow more storage and less waste.]  10-20-18
  174. California.  “Brother, Can You Spare Three Billion Dimes?”  by Michael Moritz.  [A San Francisco ballot measure to throw money at the homeless with no plan.]  10-29-18
  175. California.  “California’s Paradise Lost.”  [Trump is a bully, but he’s right about bad forest management.]  11-13-18
  176. California. LTE.  “Will California fires Promote Better Policy?”  11-17-18
  177. California.  “California’s New Tax on Texting.”  12-15-18
  178. California.  “A Case of Mistaken Identity Politics in the Heart of Silicon Valley.”  By Jason Willick.  [A school won’t be named after Fred Yamamoto because of an unfortunate coincidence of surnames.]  12-29-18
  179. California.  “California’s Next Ban:  Paper Receipts.”  [Helping hometown companies in the name of green virtue.]  1-12-19
  180. California.  “California Burns for Better Leaders.”  By Holman W. Jenkins, Jr.  [Perverse housing incentives block urban high rises and set the woods on fire.]  1-16-19
  181. California.  “L.A. Schools and Students Lose.” [The union’s six-day strike seems to have achieved nothing.]  1-24-19
  182. California.  LTE “California’s ‘Vote Harvesting,’ Pro and Con.”   1-28-19
  183. California.  “Another California Tax Grab.”  By T.J. Rogers.[The politicians have fueled an affordability crisis that drives away businesses and exacerbates homelessness.]  1-28-19
  184. California. “California’s Liberal Governor Hauls a Conservative City to Court.”  By Allysia Finley.  [To solve a problem made in Sacramento, Newsom asks judges to intervene in local zoning decisions.] 2-2-19
  185. California.  “Death of a California Dream.”  [Gavin Newsom gives up on Jerry Brown’s bullet-train fiasco.]  2-14-19
  186. California.  “Trump Rescues Newsom.”  [Too bad the feds didn’t cut off California’s bullet train sooner.]  2-21-19
  187. California.  “Bad Science May Banish Paper Receipts.”  By Steve Milloy.  [California lawmakers seek prohibition, based on a scare over BPA that was debunked two decades ago.]  2-26-19
  188. California.  “California’s Weather Cycles.”  [“…Weather and climate aren’t the same, even if politicians use wildfires and drought to push their green agenda…”  3-4-19 
  189. California.  “California Has Become the Far Left Coast.”  By Charles R. Kesler. [Bullet trains and single payer don’t work, but Golden State Democrats demand them anyway.] 3-7-19
  190. California.  LTE.  “The Costs of California’s One-Party State.”  3-19-19
  191. California.  “Gavin Newsom’s Fire Alarm.”  [California’s Governor takes heat from the left for wildfire prevention.]  3-25-19
  192. California.  “A Ninth Circuit Test for the White House.”  [Bowing to California Democrats may derail a pair of nominees.]  3-30-19
  193. California.  LTE.  “Bad Policy and the Unplugging of California.”  5-8-19  (See Wall Street Journal, “A Drastic Plan to Stop Fires:  Unplug California.”  Review, April 27, 2019)
  194. California.  ‘California’s Medicaid for All.” 5-28-19
  195. California.  “A Flood of Regulations Threatens to Leave California Dry.”  By Allysia Finley.  [Diane Feinstein has spent 20 years trying to stop a groundwater bank in the Mojave Desert.]  6-1-19
  196. California.  “Coffee Doesn’t Kill After All.”  [California has a moment of sanity, and a lawyer is furious.]  “Democrats and the Border Children.”  [Why won’t liberals help even with the humanitarian mess?]  6-6-19
  197. California.  “California Greens Have a Cow.”  [Methane emissions expose some anti-carbon contradictions.]  6-10-19
  198. California.  “California’s Backseat Drivers.” [Auto CEOs who disliked Obama fuel rules now bow to Sacramento.”  6-17-19
  199. California.  “The Troubles Beneath the Surface of California’s Comeback.”  By Allysia Finley.  [There’s a budget surplus, but also homelessness, lousy schools, expensive housing and even typhus.]  6-29-19
  200. California. “California Wants to Teach Your Kids That Capitalism is Racist.” By Williamson M. Evers. [ A new model curriculum for ‘ethnic studies’ is a handbook for classroom propagandizing.]  7-30-19
  201. California. “California Bans Trump.” [The state passes a law to bar him from the primary ballot.]  8-1-19
  202. California. “California Goes to the Rats.” [Sacramento’s solution to rodent-borne disease? Ban rodenticides.]  8-8-19
  203. California. “The great California Mileage Con.” [Four car companies cut a sweetheart deal with Sacramento.]  8-12-19
  204. California. “California’s Biggest Cities Confront a ‘Defecation Crisis.’” By Charles Kesler. [Lawmakers ban plastic straws as a far worse kind of waste covers the streets of San Francisco and L.A.]  8-17-19
  205. California. “What Will California Ban Next?” by Andy Kessler. [Snatching away plastic bottles is the latest blunder in a state thick with invasive laws.]  8-19-19
  206. California. “The California War is About EVs.” By Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. [The auto industry goes rogue in pursuit of electric vehicle credits from Trump.]  8-28-19
  207. California. “California’s War on Gigs.” [California’s Slowing Employment] 8-30-19
  208. California.  EPA. “A Scientific Roundup.” [The EPA intervenes against California’s rogue cancer regulation.]  9-4-19
  209. California. “The World’s Dumbest Housing Policy.” [First California makes homes unaffordable, then it imposes statewide rent control.]  9-12-19
  210. California. “California Can’t Go its Own Way.” [Trump’s fuel policy intervention is right on policy and the law.]  9-19-19
  211. California. “The Union and Lawyer State.” [California’s agenda: fewer charters, fewer gig workers, more lawsuits.] 9-20-19
  212. California. “California’s Hobo Paradise.” [Homelessness explodes, but the state’s liberals are in denial.]  9-24-18
  213. California. “California’s Foreign-Oil Problem.” [Why the golden State is dependent on the Saudis, unlike most of America.] 10-1-2019 (“…California’s 61-cent-a-gallon tax – the highest in the country – and this is why its gas prices are now nearly $1.40 higher than the U.S. average and $1.70 more than in Texas.]
  214. California. “The Streets of San Francisco.” By Heather MacDonald. [The city made a choice to tolerate vagrancy and encourage drug use, with dire consequences.]  10-4-19
  215. California. “California’s Dark Ages.” [“…Blame the state’s largest blackout on a perfect storm of bad policies…”]  10-11-19
  216. California. “Do California’s Blackouts Make Sense?” by Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. [Some 90% of wildfires are not caused by power lines. How does cutting power help fight them?]  10-12-19
  217. California. “How San Francisco Is Killing Its Restaurants.” By Micharl Saltman. [Labor costs and regulation are ruining a once-thriving industry. Congress should take it as a cautionary tale.]  10-18-19
  218. California. “California’s Tax-the-Rich Boomerang.” [A new study shows the 2012 tax hike drove high earners from the state.]  10-22-19
  219. California. “’Stakeholder’ Capitalism in Action.” [By the left’s lights, PG&E is a perfect corporate citizen. Liberal California pols attack it anyway.]  10-22-19
  220. California. “California’s Gasoline Panic.” [Hey, Governor Newsom, didn’t you want higher fuel prices?]  10-23-19
  221. California. LTEs. “Are California’s Blackouts a Step to Reform?”  10-23-19
  222. California. “Trump’s Gift to California.” [The EPA liberates more water from smelt and salmon regulations.]  10-25-19
  223. California. “Fires and Blackouts Made in Sacramento.” [Newsom tries to deflect blame, but PG&E is the agent of his policies.]  10-26-19
  224. California. “The Gig’s Up for Freelancers.” By Andy Kessler. [California’s latest dim policy could harm contract workers from cleaners to columnists.]  10-28-19
  225. California. “California vs. the Constitution.” [Sacramento can’t run its own foreign policy on climate change.]  10-29-19
  226. California. “Revolutionary California.” By Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. [Can 40 million suffer third-world electric reliability without a political upheaval?]  10-30-19
  227. California. “Affordable Rents at the iPad.” [Apple offers $2.5 billion to help a housing crunch created by bad policy.]  11-6-19
  228. California. “California’s Board Diversity Tax.” [A Study finds that a director mandate cost companies $60 billion.]  11-9-19
  229. California. “Revolutionary San Francisco.” [The new district attorney will ignore quality-of-life offenses.]  11-13-19
  230. California. “Of Ballots and Bias in California.” [The state Supreme Court tosses a law aimed solely at Trump.]  11-22-19
  231. California. “California’s Spending Boom Masks a Spate of Problems.” By Steven Malanga. [Politicians are rolling in tax revenue, but they can’t seem to solve basic issues like housing and energy.]  11-23-19
  232. California. “PG&E Refuses to Get Burned.” By Edward P. Lazear. [Under the utility’s incentive structure, blackouts make sense.]  11-26-19
  233. California. “Schwab Leaves San Francisco for Texas.” [The brokerage giant heads or a state that doesn’t punish finance.]  11-29-19
  234. California. “Another California Job Buster.” [“…a new State law that restricts independent contracting.]  12-20-19
  235. California. LTE. ‘The New California Rules Burden Nonprofits.” [“…about when a person must become an employee…”]  1-13-20
  236. California. “California Runs Off the Road.” “The new state labor law AB5 is causing trouble far and wide.] (“…Democrats…passed legislation outlawing many freelance and independent contracting jobs knowing the disruption it would cause…)  1-24-20
  237. California. Housing. “Want Fewer Homes? Try This.” [Sacramento tries to fix the housing shortage it created. Please stop.] 2-24-20
  238. California. “California’s Janus Jiu Jitsu.” [A lawsuit challenges a law banning advice on paying union fees.]  2-24-20
  239. California.   “California Steals Its Own Election.” [Voting reforms create an electoral mess and deny Sanders a bigger win.]  3-7-20
  240. Coronavirus. “The Extreme State Lockdowns.” [The California and New York orders to stay at home are unsustainable.]  3-21-20
  241. California. “California’s Pot Dispensation.” [“…There’s nothing like an “essential” business that may make people sicker.”]  3-24-20
  242. California. “Plastic Bag Bans: The Sequel.” [San Francisco now bans reusable bags as a health risk.]  4-9-20
  243. California. “California’s Internet Coup.” [AG Beccerra coerces Icann to block a sale to private investors.]  5-4-20
  244. California. “California’s Lockdown Liberation.” [Gavin Newsom accedes to growing local pressure to reopen.]   5-6-20
  245. California. Education. “California Defines Testing Down.” [Ignoring faculty, the UC president wants to drop the SAT and ACT.]  5-18-20
  246. California. “California’s College Testing Mistake.” 5-23-20 [dropping SATs]
  247. California. LTE. “University of California Drops SAT and ACT. “  5-29-20
  248. California. “Democrats Bite the Bullet Train.” [The Coronavirus may finally kill off Jerry Brown’s boondoggle to nowhere.]  5-30-20
  249. California. “Ward Connerly Rides Again.” By Wm. McGurn. [Civil rights champ allies with Asian-Americans against race discrimination.] 6-2-20
  250. California.  “Calpers Prepares for the Long Haul.”  By Ben Meng.  [By investing in private equity and credit, we expect to be able to achieve 7% returns.]  6-15-20
  251. California.  “Wind, Fire and the Coronavirus.” [PG&E turns to diesel for backup power after greens shunned gas.]  6-15-20
  252. California.  “A Vote for Discrimination.” [California’s Legislature votes to bring back racial preferences.]   6-26-20
  253. California.  “Hotel San Francisco.”  [“…lawsuits claim that San Francisco has created a public nuisance…are asking for a court injunction to force the city to clean up the streets.”]   7-2-20
  254. California.  “California Wants a Federal Bailout?  Tax Reform Must Come First.”  By Gerald L. Parsky.  [Washington can help fill Sacramento’s budget hole, but the money should come with strings attached.]   7-11-20
  255. Coronavirus.  “California’s Second Shutdown.”  [Gov. Newsom succumbs to pressure and locks the economy again.]   7-15-20
  256. California.  “Politicians vs. Catholic Schools.”  [Private schools want to reopen, but Newsom says no in California.]   7-20-20
  257. California.  “California’s Next Tax Increase.”  [Sacramento Democrats float a 16.8% marginal income tax rate.]   8-15-20
  258. California.  “California’s Blackout Warning.”  [“…The Sacramento Democrats want to take this policy nationwide via Joe Biden, so prepare for hot summer nights.”]   8-17-20
  259. California.  “California’s Green Blackouts.”  [If you eliminate fossil fuels, power shortages are inevitable.]   8-20-20
  260. California.  LTE.  “California Power Problems Are Self-Inflicted.”  8-27-20
  261. California.  “’Critical’ Ethnic Studies returns to California.”  By Williamson M. Evers.  [The state’s new curriculum prefers victimization to minority achievement, and Marxism to liberal values.]   8-28-20
  262. California. “California Needs Ideas.”  By Homan W. Jenkins, Jr.  [The state’s worst blackout is the one on political debate, especially about its climate obsession.]   8-29-20
  263. California.  “California Is Coming for You.”  By Andy Kessler.  [Its energy, tax and regulatory failures are the Democrats’ ideal for national policy.]   8-31-20
  264. California.  “California’s Radical Indoctrination.”  [A bill would establish a K-12 curriculum in the ‘four I’s of oppression.’]    8-31-20
  265. California.  “Unions Seek to ‘Liberate’ Gig Workers From Flexibility.”  By Michael Saltzman.  [Many freelancers who get jobs from apps would rather quit than become regular employees.]  9-5-20
  266. California.  “An Anti-Asian Proposition.”  By Wm  McGurn.  [An effort to undo a California ban on racial discrimination is floundering.]  9-22-20
  267. California.  “California’s Electric Autopia.”  [Gov. Newsom has a plan to take away your gas=powered car.]   9-28-20
  268. California.  “Hope for California’s Schools.”  10-2-20 [“…AB 331 passed the California state Legislature with supermajorities – 33-4 in the Senate and 62-12 in the Assembly…]  10-2-20
  269. California.  LTE.  “Newsom’s Coup Against Gas-Powered Cars.”    10-3-20
  270. California.  “California’s Next Big Tax Gulp.”  [A ballot measure would repeal the business half of legendary Prop. 13.]   10-15-20
  271. California.  “California Ballot-Harvesting Boomerang.”  [Democrats object as the GOP imitates their vote-collection methods.]  10-20-20    (“…Democrats control every statewide office, a supermajority in the state Legislature, and 45 of 53 House seats.  But they’re afraid they may pay a political price this year for bad governance that has resulted in double-digit unemployment, catastrophic wildfires, power outages, rising homelessness, water shortages and other #thirdworldproblems…”)
  272. California.  “California’s Racial Scare Campaign.”  [Preference supporters roll out the KKK and David Duke.)   10-26-20
  273. Energy.  “Nevada Does a California.”  [A steep renewable energy mandate would mean higher electricity costs and shortages…]   10-27-20
  274. California.  “California’s Progressive Thumping.”  [Left coast voters reject a tax hike, rent control and a union power play.]   11-12-20
  275. California.  “Newsom’s Covid Laundry.”   11-16-20
  276. California.  “California, Love It and Leave It.”  By Joe Lonsdale.  [Bad policy has made the state unlivable, so I moved my family and my venture-capital firm to Texas.]   11-16-20
  277. California.  “Newsom Gets His BLM Orders.”  [On whom to replace Kamala Harris…]   11-18-20
  278. California.  “GM Drives in Political Reverse.”  [Mary Barra drops support for a Trump suit against California.]   11-27-20
  279. California.  “California’s $2 Billion Benefit Fraud.” [Sacramento can’t pass out jobless checks without being scammed.]   12-10-20
  280. California.  “Now We’re Cooking With Gas.  But Tomorrow?”   by Allysia Finley.  [The Sierra Club hijacks a state agency in an effort to force Californians to use electric stoves and ovens.]   12-17-20
  281. California.  “A California Plan to Chase Away the Rich, then Keep Stalking Them.” By Hank Adler.  [A proposed wealth tax would apply for a decade to anyone who spends 60 days in the state in a single year.]   12-19-20
  282. California.  “The GOP Bid to Boot Gavin Newsom Could Backfire.”  By Joshua Spivak.  [Republicans may feel good about their chances, but recalls often redound to the benefit of the recalled.]   1-23-21
  283. California.  “Cancelling Dianne Feinstein.”  [In San Francisco the Senator now ranks with Confederate generals.]   1-29-21
  284. California.  “California’s Unscientific Worship Ban.” By Salvatore Cordileone. [Whether religious services are ‘essential’ isn’t a matter for government to decide.]  2-12-21
  285. California.  “Golden State Parachute.”  [Biden promotes an official who presided over $11.4 billion in jobless benefits fraud.]   2-12-21
  286. California.  “California’s Climate Contradictions.”  [New Evidence that green policies punish the poor and subsidize the rich.]   2-27-21
  287. California.  “California’s Ethnic Studies Mandate.”  [A new curriculum rejects merit and sees oppression everywhere.]   3-17-21
  288. California. “Free Exercise of Religion Court.”  [The justices slap down another California pandemic order.]  4-12-21
  289. California.  “’Donor Disclosure’ Chills Free Speech.”  By Allan Dickerson.  [California seeks to force advocacy groups to reveal who gives the money.  The justices should say no.]   4-26-21
  290. California.  “Samuel Alito’s Culture-War Warning.”  [The Justices punt on California’s sanctions against Texas.]   4-30-21
  291. California.  “The Great State budget Con.”  [California shows that Democratic claims of fiscal hardship were a political trick.]   5-15-21
  292. California.  “California Leftists Try to Cancel Math Class.”  By Williamson M. Evers.  [The proposed curriculum framework aims low, abandons the gifted, and preaches ‘social justice.’ ]   5-19-21
  293. California. “Get Ready for $5 Gasoline if You Live in California – or if You Don’t.”  by Allysia Finley.  [Golden State laws drive up prices at the pump, and the Biden administration aims to take them national.]   5-29-21
  294. California.  “Male Inmates in Women’s Prisons.”  By Abigail Shrier.  [If Congress passes the Equality Act, California’s dangerous policy would go nationwide.]   6-1-21
  295. California.  “The California and Texas Greenouts.”  [Renewables show again that they aren’t reliable to power the grid.]   6-17-21
  296. California.  “California’s Growing Cultural Blacklist.”  [“…Economic warfare between states is an ominous trend in a polarized republic…”]   7-2-21
  297. California.  “California’s Power Jam.’  [Unreliable renewables are forcing the state to scramble for electricity.]  7-12-21
  298. California.  “California’s Private Labor Enforcers.”  By Caitlyn Jenner and Tom Manzo.  [A law Gray Davis signed gives trial lawyers a powerful weapon to wield against businesses.]  7-22-21
  299. California.  “California Dreaming.”  (Bookshelf by Marc Weingarten.) “Everything Now.”  By Rosecrans Baldwin.  [Poignant miniatures of the personalities who make up Los Angeles, which is less a metropolis than an 88-city nation-state.]   7-23-21
  300. California.  “Could Larry Elder Really Replace California Gov. Gavin Newsom?”  by Jason L. Riley.  [The conservative radio host leads all other candidates, but a majority will have to reject the incumbent first.]   7-28-21
  301. California.  “California’s Progressive Fall Guy.”  [Gov. Newsom is paying for the policy failures of Sacramento.]   8-2-21
  302. California.  “Could a Conservative Replace Gavin Newsom?”  (The Weekend Interview with Larry Elder by Allysia Finley.) [A quixotic effort to recall California’s governor is suddenly gaining steam.  And a libertarian radio host is the front-runner.]   8-7-21
  303. California.  “The California Housing Crunch.”  [Bad policies cause a shortage that is hurting Newsom in the recall.]   8-17-21
  304. California.  “Hurricane Ida’s Resilience Lesson.”  [Spending to protect against extreme weather beats green boondoggles.]   8-31-21
  305. California.  “Homelessness Is Behind the Anger at Gavin Newsom.”  By Stephen Eide.  [Tent cities, street chaos and public disorder have spread to every corner of California under his watch.]   9-4-21
  306. California.  “Don’t Slander St. Junipero Serra.”  By Salvatore J. Cordileone and Jose H. Gomez.  [California lawmakers sully the good name of a Catholic saint.]  9-13-21
  307. California.  “Gavin Newsom’s White Privilege.”  By Wm. McGurn.  [Instead of debating ideas, progressives call Larry Elder a white supremacist.]   9-14-21
  308. California.  “California Democrats Defeat Trump.”  [Gavin Newsom saves his job by running against the former President.]   9-16-21
  309. California.  “California Chainsaw Massacre.”  [Sacramento escalates its campaign to raise costs for everything.]  10-14-21
  310. California.  “San Francisco Has Become a Shoplifter’s Paradise.”  By Jason L. Riley.  [Walgreens has closed 22 stores in the city, where thefts under $950 are effectively decriminalized.]   10-20-21
  311. California. “California Is the Supply Chain’s Weakest Link.” By Allysia Finlay.  [Environmental and antibusiness regulations in the deep blue state are backing up port traffic.]   11-5-21
  312. California.  “San Franciscans Get What They Voted for With Chesa Boudin.”  By Michael Shellenberger.  [The Weather Underground scion isn’t the first district attorney they’ve elected on a soft-on crime platform.]  11-27-21
  313. California.  “Systemic Anti-Asian Bias.”  By Wm McGurn.  [To the San Francisco school board, some minorities are more equal than others.]  12-7-21
  314. California.  “Refunding the San Francisco Police.”  [Mayor London Breed undergoes a law-and-order conversion.]   12-18-21
  315. California.  “Single-Payer Makes a Comeback.”  [California Democrats are back, this time with huge tax increases.]  1-11-22
  316. California.  “California Refuses to  Learn From Vermont’s Single-Payer Failure.”  By Chris Jacobs.  [Sacrament’s plan would be even more economically devastating than the one deemed impossible in 2014.]   1-29-22
  317. California.  “California’s Free-Market Housing Fix.”  By Edward Pinto and Tobias Peter.  [A New State Law allows landowners to build four units on most lots zoned currently for one unit.]  2-4-22
  318. California.  “Single-Payer Dies Again in California.”  [The cost is too much even for America’s progressive paradise.]  2-7-22
  319. California’s Solar-Power Welfare State.”  [The rich object to a rollback of subsidies for rooftop panels.]  2-8-22
  320. California.  “California’s Laughing Rail Stock.”  [The bullet trains’ price tag goes up again, this time to $105 billion.]   2-11-22
  321. California.  “San Francisco’s Political Foreshock.”  [The woke get a wake-up call as voters recall three school board members.]   2-17-22
  322. California.  “Blame Sacramento, Not Moscow, for California’s Energy Crisis.”  By Robert Bryce.  [A fixation on renewables and underinvestment in fossil fuels are causing real economic pain in the state.]   3-12-22
  323. California.  “California’s Diversity Quota Defeat.”  4-4-22
  324. California.  “California’s Non-Equal Protection.”  [Why a judge tossed the state’s boardroom diversity mandate.]  4-13-22
  325. California.  “California’s French Workweek.”  [Democrats think a 32-hour week will improve productivity.  Sure.]   4-16-22
  326. California.  “Oprah, Pavlov and Gavin Newsom.”  By Andy Kessler.  [Can Californians be trained so salivate at the governor’s $400 gas-tax-rebate cards?]   4-18-22
  327. California.  “California’s Medical ‘Misinformation’ Crusade Could Cost Lives.”  By Allysia Finley.  [As with Covid treatment, the intolerance of different views risks stifling clinical advances.]   4-21-22
  328. California.  “Can This Man Beat Gavin Newsom?”  by Allysia Finley.  [Mihael Shellenberger thinks a little common sense can go a long way in the Golden State.]   5-10-22
  329. California.  “California Parents Say No to Anti-Semitic Ethnic Studies.”  By Lori Lowenthal Marcus and Jesse M. Fried.  [Activists ae pushing curricula that portray Israel as a ‘settler state’ founded on ‘genocide.’]   5-13-22
  330. California.  “Gavin Newsom’s Re-Election Windfall.”  [The state that begged for a Covid bailout has a $98 billion surplus.]   5-21-22
  331. California.   “Chiefly Illiterate in San Francisco Schools.”  [The district pulls ‘chief’ from its CFO’s title as a gesture to Natives.]   5-27-22
  332. California.  “The Criminal Streets of San Francisco.”  [Voters can send a message by recalling D.A. Chesa Boudin.]   6-1-22
  333. California.  “Can a Common-Sense Liberal Save Los Angeles?”  by Allysia Finley.  [Crime and disorder give Rick Caruso a serious shot at being elected mayor.  The left is panicking.]   6-4-22
  334. California.  “Chesa Boudin’s Lawless City.”  By Andy Kessler.  [Recalling San Francisco’s district attorney would do a lot to restore order.]   6-6-22
  335. California.  “Chesa Boudin Loses San Francisco.” By Daniel Henninger.  [Voters in the city want out of the suicide pat that is doctrinaire progressivism.]   6-9-22
  336. California.  “Crime and Punishment in California.”  [Voters on the Left Coast send a loud message to progressives.]  6-9-22
  337. California.  “Gavin Newsom’s Street Money.”  [Sacramento is sending out checks in time for Election Day.]   6-28-22
  338. California.  “California’s Gun-Permit Leak.”  7-2-22
  339. California.  “Gavin Newsom’s Presidential Campaign Has Begun.”  By Kenneth L. Khachigian.  [He takes on Ron DeSantis in ads urging Floridian’s to move to California.  Good luck with that.]   7-7-22
  340. California.  “A Lyft for California’s Tax Rates.”  [“Progressives in California have taken ride-share companies hostage to their climate agenda…”]   7-9-22
  341. California.  “California Does Big Pharma.”  [Gov Newsom wants to get into the insulin manufacturing business.]   7-21-22
  342. California.  “Newsom Taunts Texas on Guns.”  [He mimics the lone Stare State’s abortion law to sue weapons businesses.]  8-12-22
  343. California.  “Social Justice for California Fast-Food Workers?  Where’s the Beef?”  by Jason L. riley.  [Sacramento lawmakers consider a bill that would price teenage burger flippers out of their jobs.]  8-31-22
  344. California.  “No Fun in the California Sun.”  [The state says don’t charge the EVs we’ll soon force you to buy.]   9-1-22
  345. California.  “Gavin Newsom’s Dirty Energy Secret.”  [California’s electricity woes result from man-made climate policies.]   9-8-22
  346. California.  “Looted in La La Land.”  [Mayoral candidate Karen Bass gets criminal education.]  9-19-22
  347. California.  “Newsom’s 2024 Climate Platform.”  [Blackouts? No worries, mate, California is ‘just getting started.’”]   9-21-22
  348. California.  “California’s Tesla Battery Fire.”  [A reminder that solar and wind power aren’t cost or risk free.]   9-22-22
  349. California.  “Progressive Mind Over Matter in California.”   9-24-22
  350. California.  “Gavin Newsom’s Gas Price Premium.”   [The Average price a gallon this week hit $6.29 in California.]  10-1-22
  351. California.  “Gavin Newsom’s Stealth Tax Increase.”  [The state quietly raises the marginal income tax rate to 14.4% in 2024.]   10-6-22
  352. California.  “California Takes the FAST Union Track to Europe.”  By Michael J. Lotito.  US. labor leaders now want government to impose industrywide collective bargaining.]   10-6-22
  353. California.  “Ohio Pig Farmers Didn’t Get a Vote on California’s Proposition 12.”  By Robert Alt.  [Hollywood busybodies seem to think they know better than Midwesterners how to raise hogs.]   10-8-22
  354. California.  “California Tries to Regulate 50 States.”  [The Supreme Court considers the limits of state law and interstate commerce.]   10-10-22
  355. California.  “Gavin Newsom Finds a Tax Hike He Doesn’t Like.”  By Allysia Finley.   [The governor is allied with the teachers union against a ballot measure bankrolled by Lyft.]   10-10-22
  356. California.  “California to Doctors: Agree or Shut Up.”  [The stat empowers a medical board to punish ‘misinformation.’]  10-12-22
  357. California.  “Union Coercion on the California Ballot.”  [The SEIU-UHW forces dialysis clinics to spend big fighting Prop.29.]  10-18-22
  358. California.  “Lanhee Chen May Invigorate the ‘Slightly Alive’ California GOP.”  By Allysia Finley.  [He seeks to become state controller – and the first Republican elected statewide since 2006.]   10-19-22
  359. California.  “California’s Corporate Exodus.”  [A study documents the accelerating business flight from the state.]   10-27-22
  360. California.  “California’s Democratic Tax Revolt.  [The left hand fights the other left hand over the spoils of higher taxes.]   11-2-22
  361. California.  “’Housing First’ Foments Homelessness in California.”  By Joe Lonsdale and Judge  Glock.  [There is a middle ground between imprisoning the homeless and allowing them to ruin cities.]   11-19-22
  362. California.  “California Heads for a Budget Crunch.”  11-21-22
  363. California.  “Gavin Newsom’s Latest Tax Increase.”  [He says a tax is really a ‘penalty’ so he can duck a super-majority rule.]   12-12-22
  364. California.  “California, Never a Slave State, Considers Reparations.”  By Will Swaim.  [The commission is a sham, meant to divert attention from the failures of today’s state government.]   12-24-22
  365. California.  “The Blue State Exodus Continues.”  [The latest census data show California losing and Florida gaining.]   12-28-22
  366. California.  “Democracy Dies in California.”  [The state plans to ignore the constitution’s right of voters to review laws.]  12-31-22
  367. California.  “Texas Teaches California a Budget Lesson.”  [Sacramento has a $22.5 billion deficit, Austin a $32.7 billion surplus.]   1-12-23
  368. California.  “California’s Recipe for More Homeless.”  [Los Angeles County tries to become a rent-free mecca.]   1-28-23
  369. California.  “California Loses on Medical Censorship.”  [A federal judge blocks a law punishing doctors for ‘misinformation.’]   1-31-23
  370. California.  “The Price of Cage-Free Eggs in California.”  [ The stat’s ban on eggs from caged hens is hitting consumers hard.]   2-7-23
  371. California.  “California’s Marijuana Paradise Lost.”  [The black market in pot proliferates despite legalization.]   2-8-23
  372. California.  “President Newsom Strikes Again.”  [He punishes Walgreens for abiding by other state abortion laws.]   3-11-23
  373. California.  “Insurance Companies Are Quietly Fleeing California.”  [Voters and lawmakers imposed price controls that leave residents more vulnerable to disasters.]   3-18-23
  374. California.  “How Biden Bailed Out California and New York.”  By Allysia Finley.  [The real motivation lies in the states’ budgets, which depend on the success of green startups.]   3-20-23
  375. California.  “California Adds Fuel to a Refiners’ Fire.”  [A new bureaucracy can cap profits, which will end up raising prices.]  4-3-23
  376. California.  “California Comes in Last.”  [the Golden State’s net earning growth in 2022 was 50th among states.]   4-7-23
  377. California.  “Direct Democracy Dies in California.”  [Progressives want to stop voters from challenging state laws.]   4-11-23
  378. California.  “Gavin Newsom’s Red-State Liberation Campaign.”  By Allysia Finley.  [Sacrament’s travel ban has boomeranged on the Golden State, which is moving to repeal it.]   4-24-23
  379. California.  “California May Bill You for Slavery.  [Gov. Newsom’s panel recommends $800 billion in ‘reparations.’]   5-9-23
  380. California.  “California’s New Budget Reality.”   [As revenue falls, Gov. Newsom sees new virtue in spending restraint.]   5-18-23
  381. California.  “If You Like Your Jeep…”  […You soon won’t be able to buy one, thanks to California’s EV mandate.]   5-30-23
  382. California.  “Why Insurers Are Fleeing California.”  [Regulators won’t let companies charge for growing risks.]  5-31-23
  383. California.  “California Catholics Uder Attack.”  By Salvatore Cordileone.  [Vandals get off with a misdemeanor charge for defacing a statue as police looked on.]   6-2-23
  384. California.  “Sacramento Says:  Your Emissions, Please.”  [California may soon have another mandate to impose across the U.S.]  6-3-23
  385. California.  “California’s Fast-Food Punishment.”  [Democrats escalate their attack on franchise businesses.]   6-13-23
  386. California.  “Gavin Newsom’s Tax Evasions.”  [California’s Governor spins some tall tales about his record.]  6-15-23
  387. California.  “Washington State Imitates California.”   7-5-23
  388. California.  “I Lost My Temper, San Francisco has Lost Its Mind.” By Collier Gwin.  [In a moment of frustration, I let my anger at what the city has become boil over.]   7-20-23
  389. California. “Say No to Julie Su at Labor.”  By Ted Budd and Tyler Voigt.  [Confirming her as secretary would take California’s failed policies nationwide.]  7-21-23
  390. California.  “’Antiracists’ vs. Academic Freedom.”  [A California professor sues over new DELA performance reviews.]   7-22-23
  391. California.  “Los Angeles’s Inhospitality Union.”  By Michael Saltsman.  [They want to impose a 7% guest fee and put vagrants next to tourists in hotels.]   7-27-23
  392. California.  “Why San Francisco Is a Homeless Mecca.”  [The City spends $646 million on shelter, but vagrancy grows.]  8-7-23
  393. California.  “California’s Weapons of Math Destruction.”  By Faith Bottum.  “The State’s new teaching framework tries to ‘combat inequities’ and pushes ‘social justice work.’]   8-19-23
  394. California.  “California’s War on Uber Continues.”   8-25-23
  395. California.  “Jobless Benefits for Susan Sarandon.”  [California moves to pay Hollywood actors when they go on strike.]   8-28-23
  396. California.  “California’s Assault on Trucks.”  [An accelerated ban on diesel fleets will wreak havoc on the industry.]   9-1-23
  397. California.  “How California Does (In) Business.”  [Sacramento subverts democracy to extort fast-food restaurants.]  9-18-23
  398. California.  “California’s Big Labor Blowout.”  [If unions asked for it this year, Democrats I Sacramento said yes.]  9-20-23
  399. California.  “I Left My iPad in San Francisco.”  By Rick Reiff.  [Only a few hours into our visit, my wife and I experienced a smash-and-grab.]   9-21-23
  400. California.  “California’s Smash-and-Grab Politics.”  By Allysia Finley.  [Thieves are a menace.  So are Sacramento officials who are attempting to raid the state’s businesses.]   9-25-23
  401. California.  “California Wants to Know Your Emissions.”  [Sacramento moves to enforce CO2 disclosures nationwide.]   9-25-23
  402. California.  “Laphonza Butler, Gavin Newsom and the SEIU.”  By Michael Saltsman and Charlyce Bozzello.  [Diane Feinstein’s Senate successor cleaned up a union local but isn’t popular among members.]   10-5-23
  403. California.  “Who’s Afraid of California Voters?”  [Newsom tries to block a measure requiring voter assent for new taxes.]   10-7-23
  404. California.  “The California Budget Bust Arrives.”  [The state’s progressive tax code strikes again.  New deficit:  $68 billion.]   12-9-23
  405. California.  “California Kills Auto Jobs in Toledo.”  [Stellantis warns of layoffs from the Golden State’s EV mandate.]   12-11-23
  406. California.  “California Surrenders on Activision.”  [“…The state is now finally conceding that its allegations against Activision were unsupported….”]  12-21-23
  407. California.  “California Dreamin’ of a Government That Actually Works.”  By Marc Joffe.  [Sacramento swings big but neglects the basics, like producing timely audited financial statements.]   12-23-23
  408. California.  “Electric Mandates Have California Truckers Charging Overtime.”  By Dan McClain.  [They haul lighter loads and spend hours plugged in.  Consumers will ultimately foot the bill.]   12-30-23
  409. California.  “Biden’s $3.1 Billion Train Ticket to Nowhere.”  By Wendell Cox.  [The White House announces an award to California’s stalled ‘high speed’ railroad.]   1-2-24
  410. California.  “California’s Wealth Tax Arrives.”  [Democrats want to tax assets to fill the state’s $65 billion budget hole.]   1-10-24
  411. California.  “Gavin Newsom Objects – to Us.”  [The California Governor sure is touchy about the Assembly’s wealth tax.]   1-12-24
  412. California.  “Death, Taxes and Bailouts in Gavin Newsom’s California.”  By Allysia Finley.  [Why is the governor traveling out of state so much?  Maybe he wants to get out of Dodge.]   1-29-24
  413. California.  “A Progressive California Epiphany.”  [Democrats now want to repeal their graduated income tax on electricity.]   2-7-24
  414. California.  “California Gets Another Budget Shock.”  [The State’s budget gnomes now project a $73 billion deficit.]   2-22-24
  415. California.  “Schiff, Porter and the Law of the Jungle Primary.”  By Allysia Finley.  [California’s process for winnowing candidates isn’t producing the moderation that reformers promised.]   2-26-24
  416. California.  “Panera Bread and California Circuses.”  [“…this is how politics works.  Politicians pass a punishing law for a special interest, then offer exemptions to donors …”]   3-2-24
  417. California.  “California Finds a New Way o Be Soft on Crime.”   By Heather MacDonald.  ‘The Legislature creates a new ‘systemic racism’ defense that risks turning many felons free.]   3-5-24
  418. California.  “Gavin Newsom’s Abortion Flimflam.”  By Nicholas Tomaine.  [The governor sets himself up for 2028 by falsely attacking red-state restrictions.]   3-6-24
  419. California.  “California’s Nationwide EV Coercion.”  [You may not live there, but you’ll soon be living under its auto rules.]   3-23-24
  420. California.  “How California Uses Medicaid to Rip You Off.”  By Bill Hammond.  New York and other states are rushing to exploit a funding loophole before Washington closes it.]   4-4-24
  421. California.  “A California ‘Right to Disconnect’?”  [Sacramento wants to let you ignore your boss after working hours.]   4-6-24
  422. California.  “California’s Homeless Folly.”  [An auditor finds the state’s programs failed to reduce homelessness.]   4-11-24
  423. California.  “The Latest Plan to Exacerbate California’s Housing Crisis.”  By Lawrence J. McQuillan.  [Limits on ownership by institutional investors would curtail investment in the state’s homes.]   4-20-24
  424. California.  “What Ever Happened to Gavin Newsom?”  by Kenneth L. Khachigian.  [He was a rising star a few months ago, but bad governance and the phony factor caught up to him.]   4-23-24
  425. California.  “Slavery Reparations in California?”   4-24-24
  426. California.  “How Gavin Newsom’s Governance Boosts Trump.”  By Jason L. Riley.  [He is a well-spoken surrogate for Joe Biden on TV but voters can see he; s misruled California.]   5-1-24
  427. California.  “Is Candy Healthier Than Spinach?”  by John Masko.  [A chocolatier in San Francisco laughs at the nanny state.]   5-6-24
  428. California.  “Gavin Newsom Says No New Taxes, Sort Of.”  5-13-24
  429. California.  “The Great California Train Robbery.”  [A subway to Silicon Valley will cost $12.75 billion for six miles.]   5-14-24
  430. California.  “Gavin Newsom’s Battleground Gift to Donald Trump.”  By Allysia Finley.  [The governor’s war on gasoline will hike prices in California, but also Arizona and Nevada.]   5-20-24
  431. California.  “California’s Minimum-Wage Boomerang.”  [Newsom now says the law he signed would add to the state’s fiscal woes.]   5-28-24
  432. California.  LTE.  “Newsom Responds on Gas Prices and Big Oil.”   5-31-24
  433. California.  “A Voter Revolt Grows in California.”  [Newsom and Democrats try to block anti-tax and anti-crime initiatives.]   6-17-24
  434. California.  “California Says Don’t Keep on Truckin.’”  [The EV technology isn’t ready, but that doesn’t stop climate regulators.]   6-18-24
  435. California.  “Direct Democracy Dies in California.”  6-21-24
  436. California.  “California Will Teach Kids Anything Except How to Read.”  “by Daniel Buck.  [Gender ideology, social justice and Marxist ideas are all welcome in the classroom.  Phonics isn’t.]   6-22-24
  437. California.  “Gavin Newsom No Longer Has an Excuse for Tent Cities.]   by Stephen Eide.  [The Supreme Court reverses a Ninth Circuit decision that bare laws against public camping.]   6-29-24

 

 

 

 

Issue Headlines

  • “California is most expensive state for workers’ comp”

Oct 24, 2014, 7:21am PDT:  http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/blog/morning-roundup/2014/10/california-is-most-expensive-state-for-workers.html

  • California. Drought. Marijuana. Published: March 18, 2015

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0120016

Abstract

Marijuana (Cannabis sativa L.) cultivation has proliferated in northwestern California since at least the mid-1990s. The environmental impacts associated with marijuana cultivation appear substantial, yet have been difficult to quantify, in part because cultivation is clandestine and often occurs on private property. To evaluate the impacts of water diversions at a watershed scale, we interpreted high-resolution aerial imagery to estimate the number of marijuana plants being cultivated in four watersheds in northwestern California, USA. Low-altitude aircraft flights and search warrants executed with law enforcement at cultivation sites in the region helped to validate assumptions used in aerial imagery interpretation. We estimated the water demand of marijuana irrigation and the potential effects water diversions could have on stream flow in the study watersheds. Our results indicate that water demand for marijuana cultivation has the potential to divert substantial portions of streamflow in the study watersheds, with an estimated flow reduction of up to 23% of the annual seven-day low flow in the least impacted of the study watersheds. Estimates from the other study watersheds indicate that water demand for marijuana cultivation exceeds streamflow during the low-flow period. In the most impacted study watersheds, diminished streamflow is likely to have lethal or sub-lethal effects on state-and federally-listed salmon and steelhead trout and to cause further decline of sensitive amphibian species.

DROUGHT SHAME: Federal Buildings In CA Caught On Video Wasting Water…

Sprinklers Running For Hours… Official Threatens To Confiscate Camera…

Why gas prices are rising as oil falls to 6-year lows … · 8/15/2015

www.marketwatch.com/story/why–gas–prices-are-rising-as–oil–falls… MARKETWATCH FRONT PAGE. Crude-oil prices are trading at levels last seen in the midst of the financial crisis, but that is not translating into lower gasoline prices
California. Drudgereport.com 8-31-15: Californians fleeing state for TX…

California. Drudgereport.com 10-15-15: New CA law helps illegals with drug convictions remain…

California. Drudgereport.com 11-17-15                                                                          >>>

LA TIMES PAGE ONE WEDS: Los Angeles declares homeless crises….

26,000 people call sidewalks, cars and storm drains home…  

California. Wall Street Journal p. B1: “For California Bosses, A Tough New Pay Law.” 12-30-15

Minimum Wage. $15 Minimum Wage Worries California Business Owners

Date: April 06, 2016 Last Edit: April 07, 2016

http://www.nfib.com/content/news/california/15-minimum-wage-worries-california-business-owners-73519/

California. Breitbart.com  12-29-16

Top 10 Stupidest New Laws in California for 2017

#6. SB 1383: Controlling Cow Flatulence.  Not making this up.  In spite of the fact that 53 California dairy farmers went bankrupt, moved out of state, or just closed down this year, the Marxist-Progressives are back at it again. Capture cow farts or suffer heavy fines.  CARB (CA Air Resources Board) suggests inserting a tube into the cow’s digestive system and venting into a backpack.  Even liberals admit that laws like this, where government tries to control the uncontrollable, can haveundesirable economic consequences.  Lost jobs, lost industries, lost revenue. Stupid law.

http://www.breitbart.com/california/2016/12/29/top-10-stupidest-new-laws-california-2017/

California. Drudgereport.com 1-28-17 

SHOWDOWN: California Threat to Cut Funds to Feds…

Tax Non-Compliance… 

Secession campaign gains momentum…

California Drudgereport.com 1-30-17

Don’t Have California Secede, Divide It In Two!

California. Abortion.   Drudgereport.com 3-28-17

FELONY CHARGES FOR 2 WHO SECRETLY FILMED PLANNED PARENTHOOD…

California. Drudgereport.com 4-1-17

Police arrests plummeting across California, fueling alarm and questions…

California. Drudgereport.com.    S.F. Chronicle. B.A.R.T. 4-24-17

TEEN MOB TAKE TRAIN IN OAKLAND…

http://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/BART-takeover-robbery-50-to-60-teens-swarm-11094745.php

PASSENGERS BEATEN, ROBBED…

Illegals. Drudgereport.com 4-24-17

Once celebrated, special driver’s licenses stir anxiety among illegals in CA…

Taxes: California, 4-28-17

California enacts $52 billion fuel tax hike for road, bridge repairs

https://www.aol.com/article/finance/2017/04/28/california-enacts-52-billion-fuel-tax-hike-for-road-bridge-rep/22060622/

THOMSON REUTERS, Apr 28th 2017 7:15PM

LOS ANGELES, April 28 (Reuters) – California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law on Friday a bill to raise gasoline taxes and other transportation-related fees for the first time in decades in an ambitious $52 billion plan to repair the state’s long-neglected roads and bridges.

The measure, increasing excise taxes on gasoline by 12 cents per gallon, from the current rate of $0.28 a gallon, and on diesel fuel by 20 cents per gallon over the next 10 years, goes into effect in November…”

Illegals. Drudgereport.com 5-25-17
CA Farmers Face Urgent Shortage Of Workers; Blame Crackdown On Illegals… 
California. Drudgereport.com 6-1-17
Single-payer healthcare advances in California — without way to pay $400-billion tab…

California. Drudgereport.com 6-15-17

$50M of California budget will go to expanded legal services for immigrants…

California. Drudgereport.com 6-23-17

Universal health care bill stalls in California…

California. The Wall Street Journal.  7-19-17,  P. A3

“GOP Votes Help Pass California Climate Measure.”

Calif.  >  Bill to require workforce training on gender identity to go to Assembly vote

Aug 25, 2017, 3:02pm PDT

https://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2017/08/25/bill-to-require-workforce-training-on-gender.html?ana=e_ae_set1&s=article_du&ed=2017-08-25&u=kG2EmeX2cYz%2BoelDrS35YCqoMgm&t=1503722364&j=78747151

P.C.   Drudgereport.com.  8-30-17

Homeless encampment growing problem in Orange County…

http://www.ocregister.com/2017/08/29/fountain-valley-residents-say-encroaching-homeless-encampment-needs-attention/

P.C.   Drudgereport.com.  8-30-17

Los Angeles replaces Columbus Day on calendar…

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-indigenous-peoples-day-20170829-story.html

California.  Liberal laws enacted lead to:  [breitbart.com]  10-8-17

California Hepatitis A Outbreak on Verge of Statewide Epidemic…

http://www.breitbart.com/california/2017/10/08/california-hepatitis-a-outbreak-on-verge-of-statewide-epidemic/

California. Drudgereport.com  10-21-17

SAN FRAN: ‘No valuables’ signs on cars as burglary epidemic plagues city…

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/No-valuables-sign-car-break-san-francisco-window-12288571.php

California. Drudgereport.com 11-6-17

Homeless explosion on West Coast pushing cities to brink…

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Homeless-explosion-on-West-Coast-pushing-cities-12334291.php http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Homeless-explosion-on-West-Coast-pushing-cities-12334291.php

California. Drudgereport.com  11-8-17

Palm Springs City Council Now Entirely Gay…

https://www.advocate.com/politics/2017/11/08/election-trans-bi-women-palm-springs-city-council-now-entirely-queer

California. 11-8-17

Shared from the Napa Valley, CA Patch

It’s Official: CA Has The Highest Gas Prices

Americans are paying 31 cents more than they did a year ago, but Californians are paying significantly more because of taxes.

By Hoa Quách, Patch Staff | Nov 8, 2017 11:55 am ET

https://patch.com/california/sanleandro/s/g9zjc/its-official-ca-has-the-highest-gas-prices?utm_source=alert-breakingnews&utm_medium=email&utm_term=weather&utm_campaign=alert

California. Drudgereport.com 1-15-18

California Leads Nation in Poverty…

 

California Drudgereport.com 1-18-18

SANCTUARY STATE FIGHTS…
CALIFORNIA VOWS CHARGES FOR HELPING ICE…

California. Drudgereport.com 2-9-18

SAN FRAN MASS EXODUS: ‘WE DON’T LIKE CRIME, POLITICS’…

LA Mayor Not Backing Down on Sanctuary City; ‘Not Scared’ of Fed Threats…

Plan to house homeless could transform parking lots across city…

California.   Crains of San Francisco. 2-12-18

Californians voted for water storage, but no projects OK’d

“Four years ago in the midst of a scary, five-year drought – one of the state’s driest periods in recorded history – voters eagerly approved a $7.5-billion water bond proposal. A key selling point was $2.7 billion set aside for additional water storage. Legislators handed the $2.7-billion storage pot to the California Water Commission to safeguard it from legislative politics. How much of the money has the commission allocated? Zilch.(Los Angeles Times)…”

California. 2-15-18

BusinessShared from the Banning-Beaumont, CA Patch

Could CA See $4 Gas Prices Soon?

It looks like we may be pushing closer to that number than many drivers would prefer.

By Renee Schiavone, Patch Staff | Feb 15, 2018 4:46 pm ET | Updated Feb 15, 2018 4:47 pm ET

https://patch.com/california/sanleandro/s/gcw8e/could-ca-see-4-gas-prices-soon?utm_source=alert-breakingnews&utm_medium=email&utm_term=weather&utm_campaign=alert

Calif. Drudgereport.com 2-20-18

San Fran Diseased Streets… Needles, Garbage, Feces… Like Worst Slums in World…

https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Diseased-Streets-472430013.htmlhttps://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Diseased-Streets-472430013.html

Blacks. 2-22-18,  BART Board Meeting Shut Down By Protest Of Fatal Police Shooting

Police have said that Shaleem Tindle was armed with a handgun, and later released a photograph of a Sig Sauer they recovered at the scene.

By California Patch, News Partner | Feb 22, 2018 6:10 pm ET | Updated Feb 22, 2018 6:13 pm ET

https://patch.com/california/sanleandro/s/gd2ap/bart-board-meeting-shut-down-by-protest-of-fatal-police-shooting?utm_source=alert-breakingnews&utm_medium=email&utm_term=weather&utm_campaign=alert

Calif. Drudgereport.com 2-27-18

Chief: Oakland mayor helped criminal illegals escape…

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/feb/27/libby-schaaf-oakland-mayor-helped-criminal-illegal/

California. San Francisco Business Times. Feb. 28, 2018

California has the worst quality of life of any state, new report finds By Riley McDermid  – Digital Producer, San Francisco Business Times

Feb 28, 2018, 7:25am

“California has the worst quality of living of any state in the nation, a new reportfrom U.S. News and World Report and McKinsey & Co. has found.”

https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2018/02/28/california-has-the-worst-quality-of-life-of-any.html?ana=e_ae_set1&s=article_du&ed=2018-03-03&u=kG2EmeX2cYz%2BoelDrS35YCqoMgm&t=1520115525&j=80305901

Calif. Drudgereport.com 2-27-18

Chief: Oakland mayor helped criminal illegals escape…

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/feb/27/libby-schaaf-oakland-mayor-helped-criminal-illegal/

California.  Net Out Migration  Sent: Tuesday, February 27, 2018 10:45 PM

Cost to move out of Calif — vs.  cost to move into Calif.
The truck rental business is a leading indicator of net migration. There is a shortage of trucks for rent to get out of California. The rates can be 300% higher to rent a truck for one-way trips out of California v trips into the La La Land of endless taxes.

California. L.A. Drudgereport.com 3-1-18   How can a place with 58,000 homeless people continue to function? By THE TIMES EDITORIAL BOARD, MAR 01, 2018 | 4:15 AM

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-homelessness-impact-on-others-20180301-htmlstory.html

California.   Drudgereport.com March 2, 2018

California Dems’ hard-left turn could be the whole party’s future

By Post Editorial Board, March 2, 2018 | 6:45pm

https://nypost.com/2018/03/02/california-dems-hard-left-turn-could-be-the-whole-partys-future/

California. headlines@latimes.com 3-7-18

The Trump administration is going after three California “sanctuary” laws passed by the Legislature last year [2017].

California. Gavin Newsom. Drudgereport.com 3-15-18

Top Clinton Aide Running For Gov Says Newsom Should Resign Over Affairs… ^
From the March 15, 2018 21:19:59 GMT edition of the Drudge Report.

https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article205313919.html

Calif. Governor’s Primary Race. The Patch, 4-2-18

https://patch.com/california/sanleandro/s/ge17a/california-governors-race-heats-up?li_source=base&li_medium=default-widget

California Governor’s Race Heats Up

For the first time, voters could choose between two Democrats in November as Gavin Newsom and Antonio Villaraigosa surge in the polls.

By Paige Austin, Patch Staff | Apr 1, 2018 4:33 am ET

California. 4-7-18 Drudgereport.com   Newt Gingrich: California may elect a Republican governor — Incredible as that sounds

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2018/04/07/newt-gingrich-california-may-elect-republican-governor-incredible-as-that-sounds.html

California. Gas prices highest in USA. 4-9-18 San Diego Tribune

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/energy-green/sd-fi-california-gasoline-20180402-story.html

 California. Drudgereport.com 4-11-18

DEFIANT: California deploying 400 troops — but not for immigration enforcement…

California. Homeless. 4-16-18, N.Y. Times, California Today: Los Angeles’s New Plan to House the Homeless

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/16/us/california-today-los-angeles-homeless.html?em_pos=large&emc=edit_ca_20180416&nl=california-today&nlid=84711922edit_ca_20180416&ref=headline&te=1

California. Filth in San Francisco 4-17-18

https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Clean-up-San-Francisco-s-streets-tourist-12839281.php

California. Homeless 4-26-18 San Francisco Business Times

San Francisco, Oakland mayors take on homeless problem but their strategies differ

https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2018/04/26/san-francisco-oakland-mayors-take-on-homeless.html?ana=e_me_set1&s=newsletter&ed=2018-04-26&u=kG2EmeX2cYz%2BoelDrS35YCqoMgm&t=1524760718&j=81246711

 Calif. Governor’s Primary Race. The Patch, 4-2-18

California.  Homeless  4-26-18  San Francisco Business Times

https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2018/04/26/san-francisco-oakland-mayors-take-on-homeless.html?ana=e_me_set1&s=newsletter&ed=2018-04-26&u=kG2EmeX2cYz%2BoelDrS35YCqoMgm&t=1524760718&j=81246711

California.  Homeless  5-9-18

Homeless Crisis Crushing California Libraries…

 

California. Drudgereport.  4-26-18

SHOCK VIDEO: Junkies Take Over One San Fran Subway Station…

Shoot Up In Open, Slumped Along Filthy Walkways…

 

Mural of George Washington seen as racist and set to be destroyed draws a crowd

The San Francisco mural, which includes images of Washington, slaves and a dead Native American, is seen as racist by some, but defended as social criticism by others.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/allegedly-racist-george-washington-mural-set-be-destroyed-draws-crowd-n1038641?cid=referral_taboolafeed     8-2-19

 

4-13-19 California. Drudgerepoet.com

CA Moving Toward Ban On Little Shampoo, Conditioner Bottles From Hotels… https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2019/04/12/california-hotel-shampoo-bottle-ban/

 

Thursday, May 3, 2018

NYTimes.com

 

A Tech Company Wades Into Housing Politics
By CONOR DOUGHERTY AND INYOUNG KANG

“…Stripe’s donation could end up being controversial. The so-called Yimby movement — whose platform is to cut back zoning and other regulations so that housing is easier to build —…”

California.  Homeless  4-26-18  San Francisco Business Times

https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2018/04/26/san-francisco-oakland-mayors-take-on-homeless.html?ana=e_me_set1&s=newsletter&ed=2018-04-26&u=kG2EmeX2cYz%2BoelDrS35YCqoMgm&t=1524760718&j=81246711

California.  Homeless  5-9-18

Homeless Crisis Crushing California Libraries…

 

California. Drudgereport.  4-26-18

SHOCK VIDEO: Junkies Take Over One San Fran Subway Station…

Shoot Up In Open, Slumped Along Filthy Walkways…

 

8-11-19 Drudgereport.com

California city denies Straight Pride permit…

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/aug/11/modesto-california-denies-straight-pride-rally-per/

 

Thursday, May 3, 2018

NYTimes.com

 

A Tech Company Wades Into Housing Politics
By CONOR DOUGHERTY AND INYOUNG KANG

“…Stripe’s donation could end up being controversial. The so-called Yimby movement — whose platform is to cut back zoning and other regulations so that housing is easier to build —…”

California. Drudgereport.com 6-18-18 Wait times at California DMVs top 5 hours!

http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/transportation/back-seat-driver/article213205334.html

California. Elections. ALERT: Gas Tax Repeal Makes California Ballot (Mon 8:16:32 PM)

Date:    6/25/2018

Shared from the Pasadena, CA Patch

Gas Tax Repeal Makes California Ballot

Enough signatures were gathered to qualify the GOP-backed “Gas Tax Repeal Initiative” for the fall election.

By California News Wire Services, News Partner | Jun 25, 2018 9:39 pm ET

https://patch.com/california/sanleandro/s/ggdx1/gas-tax-repeal-makes-california-ballot?utm_source=alert-breakingnews&utm_medium=email&utm_term=weather&utm_campaign=alert

California. Drudgereport.com 7-18-18

California Supremes block measure to divide state in 3…

California. Drudgereport.com 7-19-18 San Francisco

ILLEGALS REGISTER TO VOTE IN SAN FRAN…

Mayor Refuses to Crack Down on Public Defecators…

 

California. Drudgereport.com 7-19-18

Masked Protesters Hurl Feces At Pro-Trump Coffee Shop…

https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2018/07/18/asher-caffe-asher-kosher-shalom-boyle-heights-protests-defend-boyle-heights/

California. Newsom, Drudgereport.com 8-20-18

Gavin Newsom criticized for flip-flopping on California’s most pressing issues…

http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-governor-race-gavin-newsom-issues-shift-20180820-story.html

California. Newsom  Drudgereport.com 8-28-18

Gavin Newsom vows Universal Healthcare for ILLEGAL ALIENS.

https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/08/28/gavin-newsom-california-illegal-immigrants-universal-healthcare/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=daily&utm_content=links&utm_campaign=20180828

California. Democrats. Drudgereport.com 9-1-18

Boycott Of IN-N-OUT Backfires Spectacularly…

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-08-31/california-liberals-draw-line-refuse-boycott-n-out-after-democratic-official-goes

California. Gavin Newsom. Drudgereport.com 9-7-18

How eight elite San Fran families funded Newsom’s political ascent…

http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-pol-ca-gavin-newsom-san-francisco-money/

[See 3-15-18, above, on Newsom allegations.]

California, Sanctuary State  12-31-18

“SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A suspected drunken driver accused of killing a California police officer who pulled him over was captured Friday as he tried to flee back to Mexico, where he lived before illegally crossing into the U.S., authorities said.

The sheriff leading the investigation blamed California’s sanctuary law for preventing local authorities from reporting Gustavo Perez Arriaga to U.S. immigration officials for two previous drunken driving arrests…”

California.  Drudgereport.com  1-19-19

REPORT: Gavin Newsom Running Ads in Swing States… https://ntknetwork.com/2020-watch-gavin-newsom-is-running-facebook-ads-in-ohio-florida-other-swing-states/

California.  Economy.  https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2019/01/30/san-francisco-lose-fortune-500-headquarters.html?ana=e_sfbt_bn_exclusive&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWVdRNU1ESXpZalV5Wm1NMSIsInQiOiJ5QnhVR1wvdkVWTDNsXC9iXC9EbjYzRXJBTGJXNVZLTVBMZndGbnowYWlkNW5ENUxQUXRGdUlvdzdnaEN2VkFPeHRkTVRHa3MzUzVkMEp5RVc4aXdYNGpNNDVmMGdTXC9kcUhrSDkzVldCc3RnMk5jamNZTzE4M3RVVzZzbTBxNmxTQVcifQ%3D%3D    2-1-19

Exclusive: Will San Francisco lose yet another Fortune 500 headquarters?

By Mark Calvey / Retaining a corporate headquarters in the city of San Francisco became a pricier proposition after San Francisco voters last fall approved a gross receipts tax on large businesses to support homeless services.

2-2-19  Drudgereport.com.  2-1-19  Typhus Epidemic Worsens in LA… 

https://www.nbclosangeles.com/investigations/Typhus-Epidemic-Worsens-in-Los-Angeles-505166301.html

Typhus Epidemic Worsens in Los Angeles

A veteran city prosecutor is among the latest victims.

By Joel Grover and Amy Corral

Published Feb 1, 2019 at 9:53 AM | Updated at 9:59 AM PST on Feb 1, 2019

Comments:

David Olson

Typhus from fleas, fleas from rats, rats attracted to garbage, garbage piling up from worsening homeless population, worsening homeless population caused by advertizing all the feebies available in L.A to homeless. And the officials don’t see the connection.

California.  Drudgereport.com.  California bill would let drivers eat roadkill…

2-22-19

 

https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article226570774.html

California. Wild Fires. “Plans for Fire Protection Hit Red Tape in California.”  By Jim Carlton.  Wall Street Journal, 9-18-20. P. A3

[“…Among the factors contributing to this year’s exceptional wildfire season are … and poor forest management, according to scientific experts.  State and local governments haven’t done enough to thin dry brush and dead trees…]

Campaign Consideration

Talking Points

Calif. “Why Food Prices Are Drought-Resistant.” By Tim York et.al. [California farmers are using a variety of tactics to stay competitive in a global marketplace.] 4-13-15

Drought + Regulations: California. Drought. Video: https://vimeo.com/149917045,   Feb./Mar. 2016

California. Minimum Wage. Regarding the Calif. legislature’s passing $15.00 minimum wage. 4-2-16

http://mishtalk.com/2016/04/02/chart-of-the-day-california-minimum-wage-hike-history/

California. “Notable & Quotable: California Socialism.”  (From “California’s Descent to Socialism” by Joel Kotkin in the Orange County Register, June 11, 2017)  [“The oligarchs of the Bay Area have a problem:  They must square their progressive worldview with their enormous wealth…]  6-13-17

 

California. Drudgereport.com. California bill would let drivers eat roadkill…2-22-19

https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article226570774.html

 

Calif. Education Drudgereport.com 12-19-18   Least-Educated State: California…

https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/terence-p-jeffrey/least-educated-state-california-no-1-percentage-residents-25-and

Calif. Exodus.  “Amid an Exodus, The Bay Area Loses Its Luster.” San Francisco Business Times.”  1-10-2020 p. 17

 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Wall Street Journal Editorial

“California’s Blackout Warning.”

8-17-20, p. A16, print edition.

Electricity blackouts are awful at any time, but especially during an extreme heat wave and for reasons that are man-made. That’s what millions in California have been enduring in recent days, and their plight is a warning to the rest of America about the risks of Green New Deal policies.

The California Independent System Operator (Caiso), which manages the state’s power grid, declared a high-level emergency Friday and Saturday evenings and ordered utilities to reduce power usage. California and most of the southwestern U.S. are experiencing a severe heat wave. But other states are managing to keep power flowing. Why can’t California?

California last experienced rolling blackouts in 2001 amid energy market manipulation by speculators. This time the cause is energy market manipulation by anti-fossil fuel politicians. Democrats have mandated that renewables account for 60% of state electricity by 2030, which has forced power providers to invest in renewable energy sources now to meet the deadline. The result is something of a Rube Goldberg physics experiment.

During peak daylight hours, California produces a surplus of solar energy, and power generators may be ordered or paid to cut back their production so the grid isn’t overloaded. On Friday and Saturday Caiso reported about 1,000 mega-watt hours (MWh) were curtailed—enough to power 30,000 homes. This year 1.3 million MWh of power have been curtailed.

But this means supply shortages can occur in the evening when solar energy plunges but demand for power remains high. That’s what happened this weekend. Many natural gas and nuclear plants that can generate power 24/7 have shut down in recent years because they can’t compete with heavily subsidized green energy. A 10-year-old natural gas power plant in California’s Inland Empire is being decommissioned this year—20 to 30 years earlier than its planned lifespan.

State water regulations are also forcing the shutdown of “peaker” plants along the coast that can quickly ramp up generation when the sun goes down. This is why the Public Utilities Commission last year warned the state could face an energy shortage as early as 2021 on hot summer evenings. That day has arrived a year early. Congratulations to Democrats for beating their own forecasts.

When they can get it, Californians already pay twice as much for electricity as Washingtonians and a third more than Nevadans. Because the spot price for power in the summer can surge more than 30-fold from noon to dusk, utilities are building expensive batteries to store solar energy that can be released in the evening. They say that will save money, but that’s also what they said about Jerry Brown’s failed bullet train.

To sum up: California’s antipathy even to natural gas and nuclear power has resulted in higher energy prices and now power surpluses and shortages because renewables are intermittent energy sources. The Sacramento Democrats want to take this policy nationwide via Joe Biden, so prepare for hot summer nights.

— 30  —

___________________________

8-31-20 Wall Street Journal p. A15

  • https://www.wsj.com/articles/california-is-coming-for-you-11598804191?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=1
  • OPINION 

California Is Coming for You

Its energy, tax and regulatory failures are the Democrats’ ideal for national policy.

 

By Andy Kessler,  Aug. 30, 2020 12:16 pm ET

Arrays of photovoltaic solar panels sit in El Centro, Calif., May 29.

PHOTO: BING GUAN/REUTERS

I didn’t have to read the entire Democratic Party platform, let alone the spend-tasmagoric Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force recommendations. Sitting here in California, I’m already living it. If polls are to be believed, left-coast policies are coming to you soon—and you’re not going to like it. California is an early glimpse for the rest of the country of a blackout-rolling, water-deprived, tax-hiking, spending-spiking one-party state longing for its old incandescent glow.

The U.S. may flip to one party rule; California is already there. Democrats have controlled the state Assembly since 1997 and the governorship since 2011—or 1999 if you ignore Arnold the Governator, as most do. Single-party rule means single-party rules. We’re No. 1 in the top marginal income tax rate at 13.3%, including for capital gains. That beats New York City. We’re also No. 1 in state sales tax, but only ninth when you include local levies. Still impressive! Everything else follows.

This month Californians have been subjected to rolling blackouts because of the state’s renewable energy mandates—33% today, 60% by 2030 and 100% by 2045. When the sun goes down, which I understand happens every evening, solar cells are worthless. So California has to buy energy on the spot market—sometimes for 10 times normal prices when it’s hot. So we get rolling blackouts. This craziness could be yours too in the near future. Get used to higher bills and resetting your clocks.

California is No. 3 in the nation in water prices. Sad, since it grows 90% of America’s broccoli, 95% of its garlic, 71% of spinach, 69% of carrots and two-thirds of fruits and nuts. Your prices are going up. And kiss incandescent lightbulbs goodbye—most were outlawed in California as of Jan. 1. Someone please send a box of 60-watt flame-tip candelabra base bulbs my way. I’m getting desperate.

And of course, California spends money like a drunken sailor. The state is blessed with tax dollars spouting from employees of Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft via LinkedIn, Amazon (whose search operation is based in Palo Alto), Twitter, Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, Palantir and—oops, check that, Palantir is moving its headquarters to Colorado. Can’t say I blame them.

Where does the money go? A clue recently emerged after a pushing incident and subsequent lawsuit involving an Oakland deputy sheriff and the president of the Toronto Raptors at last year’s NBA Finals. Twitter wags quickly noted the deputy made $287,000 in 2016. A deputy! Teachers aren’t far behind. Menlo Park certificated teachers’ compensation averaged $106,986 in 2018, and they still got a 5% raise last October.

There’s no question that the state is a parasite. But the first rule of parasites is: Don’t kill the host. California is trying nonetheless, especially with innovation dynamos Uber and Lyft. Assembly Bill 5 kicked in on Jan. 1, reclassifying many “gig economy” workers as employees, a blatant move to help unions organize.

It’s a mess. Close to home, freelance journalists are limited to an arbitrary 35 submissions. Monday, Aug. 31 is the deadline for several bills to provide journalists and others exemptions. But holding it up, quelle surprise, is a debate over giving exemptions to “certified translators” but not to interpreters. What a surprise, the interpreters are up in arms. You can’t make this stuff up. Stop micromanaging; better to repeal AB 5 outright.

Uber and Lyft, the real targets of AB 5, threatened to halt California operations rather than classify drivers as employees. On Aug. 20 an appeals court allowed them to continue temporarily. They and DoorDash are funding a ballot measure in November, Proposition 22, to exempt drivers from reclassification and provide new minimum wages and benefits. This paper reported that only 2% of California Uber drivers used the app for more than 40 hours a week, and only 14% of Lyft drivers drove more than 20 hours a week. Some drivers use both apps, but it’s still overwhelmingly part-time work.

So what do the 300,000 Uber and 200,000 Lyft drivers actually want, as opposed to what California says they want? Like any good tech experiment, let’s do an A/B test. Have Uber drivers classified as employees and Lyft drivers as independent contractors, or vice versa. Within a month we’d see which model drivers prefer. I’m tired of power grabs under the guise of good intentions.

A law as stupid as AB 5 could never go nationwide, right?

Think again. The U.S. House of Representatives has already passed the blatantly union-friendly (though refreshingly honestly named) H.R. 2474—Protecting the Right to Organize Act, which is “revising the definition of ‘employee.’ ” It’s like “Poltergeist”: “They’re here . . .”

Earlier this month, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told the Verge website, “I do think we have the system that’s optimized . . . it’s called capitalism. It’s not called labor-ism. It’s not called socialism.” Except in California, laborism probably is the right word. And be warned, it’s about to spread.

Write to kessler@wsj.com.

_____________________________

 

______________________________________________________

California’s Radical Indoctrination

A bill would establish a K-12 curriculum in the ‘four I’s of oppression.’

By

The Editorial Board

Aug. 30, 2020 7:10 pm ET

 

Conservatives and fair-minded liberals are alarmed that high schools are drawing up plans to teach the “1619 project,” the New York Times ’ revisionist account of race and the American founding, in history classes. The reality is turning out to be worse. The largest state in the union is poised to become one of the first to mandate ethnic studies for all high-school students, and the model curriculum makes the radical “1619 project” look moderate and balanced.

Last year California’s Assembly passed its ethnic-studies bill known as AB 331 by a 63-8 vote. Then the state department of education put forward a model curriculum so extreme and ethnocentric that the state Senate’s Democratic supermajority balked. The curriculum said among other things that “within Ethnic Studies, scholars are often very critical of the system of capitalism as research has shown that Native people and people of color are disproportionately exploited within the system.”

The bill was put on ice, but protests and riots in recent months gave Sacramento’s mavens of racial division more leverage. The education department delivered a new draft model curriculum this month, and AB 331 has been revived. It passed a Senate committee Aug. 20 and is expected to go before the full body soon. If Gov. Gavin Newsom signs it, the legislation would require all school districts to offer a semester-long ethnic studies class starting in 2025.

The model curriculum now on the education department’s website says the course should “build new possibilities for post-imperial life that promotes collective narratives of transformative resistance.” Yes, this is a course for K-12 students. It suggests teachers provide “examples of systems of power, which can include economic systems like capitalism and social systems like patriarchy.” Students can then be taught “the four ‘I’s of oppression”—ideological, institutional, interpersonal and internalized.

The state guidance includes more than 200 pages of approved course outlines. Some of these seem to mandate student political activities, potentially raising First Amendment concerns. “Students acquire tools to become positive actors in their communities to address a contemporary issue and present findings in a public forum,” says one outline. Among the approved topics: “Racism, LGBTQ rights, immigration rights, access to quality health care, income inequality,” and so on. What about the fifth “I” of indoctrination?

It’s not a coincidence that many radical left movements are infused with anti-Semitism. They posit theories of control by shadowy capitalist groups that often echo anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. One course outline tips its hat at this. “Students will write a paper detailing certain events in American history,” it says, “that have led to Jewish and Irish Americans gaining racial privilege.”

This is ugly stuff, a force-feeding to teenagers of the anti-liberal theories that have been percolating in campus critical studies departments for decades. Enforced identity politics and “intersectionality” are on their way to replacing civic nationalism as America’s creed. Liberals who consider themselves moderate and don’t understand the sense of urgency and assault felt by so many Americans ought to read this curriculum. And responsible statesmen in Sacramento ought to stop it.

 

Recall Election:  9-18-2020

 

Recall Gavin Effort Booms Despite Media Blackout

 

http://www.capoliticalreview.com/capoliticalnewsandviews/state-high-risk-audit-program/

State High-Risk Audit Program

By Stephen Frank on Aug 20, 2021 09:29 pm
This report needs no comment.  From top to bottom, California government is mismanaged, corrupt, inefficient—meant for the special interests, the unions and corporations—not the people of the former Golden State. As Dan Walters says, this report is fodder for the Recall—not much too like or honest about California government. State High-Risk Audit Program The California State […]

http://www.capoliticalreview.com/capoliticalnewsandviews/state-high-risk-audit-program/

State Auditor,  8/19/21

The Governor of California
President pro Tempore of the Senate
Speaker of the Assembly
State Capitol
Sacramento, California 95814

Dear Governor and Legislative Leaders:

As required by Government Code section 8546.5, my office presents this report about statewide issues and state agencies that represent a high risk to the State or its residents. Our work to systematically identify and address such high-risk statewide issues and agencies aims to enhance efficiency and effectiveness by focusing the State’s resources on improving the delivery of services related to important programs or functions.

We describe in this report seven high-risk statewide issues that include aspects of water infrastructure, information security, and state management of COVID‑19 federal funds. We also conclude that five state agencies meet our criteria for posing a high risk: the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the California Department of Technology, the California Department of Health Care Services, the California Department of Public Health, and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System. Finally, we have removed state oversight of K-12 education funding from our state high-risk list because the State has made sufficient progress toward controlling risk factors.

We will continue to monitor the risks we have identified in this report and the actions the State takes to address them. When the State’s actions result in significant progress toward resolving or mitigating such risks, we will remove the high-risk designation based on our professional judgment.

Respectfully submitted,

ELAINE M. HOWLE, CPA
California State Auditor

Selected Abbreviations Used in This Report

CA-MMIS California Medicaid Management Information System
CalSTRS California State Teachers’ Retirement System
CDCR California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
CDT California Department of Technology
CRF Coronavirus Relief Fund
CSU California State University
EDD Employment Development Department
Emergency Services California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services
Finance Department of Finance
FI$Cal Financial Information System for California
Health Care Services Department of Health Care Services
IT information technology
LAO Legislative Analyst’s Office
LCAP Local Control Accountability Plan
LCFF local control funding formula
MHSA Mental Health Services Act
OIG Office of the Inspector General
OPEB other postemployment benefits
PAL Project Approval Lifecycle
Public Health California Department of Public Health
Repair Act Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017
State Controller State Controller’s Office
Transportation Commission California Transportation Commission
UC University of California
Water Resources Department of Water Resources

Contents

Issue or Agency Responsible Agency Report Section On List Since
Introduction
Retained on High-Risk List
State Management of COVID‑19 Federal Funds Various Agencies The State’s Management of COVID‑19 Federal Funds Has Led to Inefficiency and May Have Resulted in Substantial Fraud 2020
State Financial Reporting and Accountability Department of FI$Cal and Various Agencies The Transition to FI$Cal Continues to Pose a Risk to the State’s Financial Reporting and Accountability 2020
Higher Education—Affordability California State University and University of California Students’ Ability to Afford Higher Education in California Remains a Concern 2013
Information Security California Department of Technology and Various Agencies Weaknesses Persist in the State’s Information Security 2013
Water Infrastructure—Dam Safety and Water Reliability Department of Water Resources and the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services Aging Water Infrastructure Continues to Threaten Public Safety and Water Availability 2013
California State Teachers’ Retirement System—Fully Funding Retirement Benefits California State Teachers’ Retirement System CalSTRS Continues to Risk Being Unable to Fully Fund Retirement Benefits for Teachers 2011
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation—Providing Constitutionally Required Medical Care to Inmates California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation CDCR Has Not Yet Demonstrated That It Can Provide Constitutionally Required Medical Care to Inmates 2007
Department of Health Care Services—Medi‑Cal Eligibility and Oversight of Mental Health Services Act Funds Department of Health Care Services Health Care Services Has Not Adequately Addressed Issues With Medi‑Cal Eligibility or Its Oversight of MHSA Funding and Programs 2007
California Department of Public Health—Safety of Residents in Long‑Term Health Care Facilities California Department of Public Health Public Health Has Not Addressed Certain Concerns That Could Affect the Health and Safety of Patients and the Public 2007
California Department of Technology—Information Technology Oversight California Department of Technology CDT Has Not Yet Demonstrated That It Has Improved Its Oversight of State IT Projects 2007
Other Postemployment Benefits—Fully Funding Retiree Health Care Benefits Department of Finance, California Department of Human Resources, and California Public Employees’ Retirement System The State Continues to Have a Significant Unfunded Retiree Health Care Liability 2007
Transportation Infrastructure—Road Conditions and Funding California Department of Transportation and California Transportation Commission Caltrans Must Sustain Progress in Improving Transportation Infrastructure Amid Limited Funding 2007
Removed From High-Risk List
K-12 Education—Oversight Related to Education Funding State Board of Education and California Department of Education The State Has Implemented Changes to Improve Oversight of Education Funding 2013

Introduction

Background

State law authorizes the California State Auditor (State Auditor) to develop a state high‑risk government agency audit program (high‑risk program). Our office implemented this program to improve the operation of state government by identifying, auditing, and recommending improvements to state agencies and statewide issues at high risk for waste, fraud, abuse, or mismanagement or for having major challenges associated with their economy, efficiency, or effectiveness. In accordance with this statutory authority, the State Auditor adopted regulations in 2016 that further describe the high-risk program. As we outline below, these regulations provide the criteria we used in determining the list of state high‑risk agencies and statewide issues we present in this report.

Criteria for Determining Whether a State Agency or Statewide Issue Merits a High-Risk Designation

State regulations outline the conditions under which an agency or issue may be included on the State Auditor’s high-risk list. All four of the following conditions must be present for us to assign the high-risk designation:

  • The potential waste; fraud; abuse; mismanagement; or impaired economy, efficiency, or effectiveness may result in serious detriment to the State or its residents.
  • The likelihood of waste; fraud; abuse; mismanagement; or impaired economy, efficiency, or effectiveness causing such harm is so great that it constitutes a substantial risk of detriment to the State or its residents.
  • The state agencies that are affected by or responsible for resolving the waste; fraud; abuse; mismanagement; or impaired economy, efficiency, or effectiveness are not taking adequate corrective actions to prevent the risk or its effects.
  • An audit and the agencies’ implementation of the resulting recommendations will significantly reduce the substantial risk of serious detriment to the State or its residents.

For both state agencies and statewide issues, we consider a number of factors in determining whether there is substantial risk to the State or its residents. We consider whether the risks are already causing detriment, whether those risks are increasing, and whether changes in circumstances are likely to cause detriment. We also consider various factors to determine whether the risks will have serious effects, such as loss of life, injury, or a reduction in residents’ overall health or safety; impairment of the delivery of government services; significant reduction in the overall effectiveness or efficiency of state government programs; and impingement of citizens’ rights. Finally, in evaluating whether agencies have taken adequate measures to correct previously identified deficiencies or whether the State has taken measures to reduce the risks posed by the issues, we consider factors such as whether the agencies have demonstrated a strong commitment to controlling or eliminating the risk and whether they have made significant progress through action already taken to control or eliminate the risk to the State. In all cases, our professional staff make the final determination of risk level based on their independent and objective judgment.

Removal of High-Risk Designation

We must remove the high-risk designation under either of the following circumstances:

  • A change in circumstances has resulted in the risk no longer presenting the potential for serious detriment to the State or its residents.
  • The agencies have taken sufficient corrective action to prevent or mitigate the risk of harm.

For example, we evaluate whether the agencies have defined the root causes of the risk and identified and implemented effective measures for eliminating those causes. We also analyze whether the agencies have processes for monitoring and validating the effectiveness and sustainability of corrective actions. When we determine that these actions have resulted in significant progress toward resolving or mitigating the high‑risk issue, we remove the high-risk designation. However, we must continue to monitor the issue. If the risk reoccurs, we will consider reinstating the high-risk designation using the factors described above. State law requires us to base the final determination of whether to remove a high-risk designation on our professional judgment.

State High-Risk Reports

Government Code section 8546.5 authorizes the State Auditor to audit and to publish audit reports on any state agency it identifies as high risk. In May 2007, we issued a report that provided an initial list of high‑risk state agencies and statewide issues, and we have since issued several reports updating the status of those agencies and issues. We published our most recent update to the state high-risk list in January 2020, but later designated the State’s management of federal funds related to COVID‑19 as a high-risk statewide issue in August 2020. Further, we include a list on our website of any audits of high‑risk state agencies and statewide issues that we are performing.

To update our assessment of high‑risk state agencies and statewide issues, we interviewed knowledgeable staff at the responsible state agencies to gain perspective on the extent of the risks the State faces. We also reviewed efforts that the staff at the agencies said were underway and intended to mitigate the identified risks. In addition, we reviewed reports and other documentation relevant to the issues and consulted other state agencies when appropriate.

Updated Assessment of High-Risk Issues and Agencies

The State’s Management of COVID‑19 Federal Funds Has Led to Inefficiency and May Have Resulted in Substantial Fraud

Background

We first designated the State’s management of federal funds related to COVID‑19 (federal COVID‑19 funds) as a high-risk statewide issue in August 2020 (2020-602) based on the significant amount of funding granted to the State, the urgent need for the funding, and the rapid nature of the allocation of this funding to state departments, among other factors. We previously identified 18 state departments that had received or were expected to receive a total of more than $71 billion in federal COVID‑19 funding to operate more than 35 federal programs. Several of these programs will receive or have received an amount of federal funding that exceeds their recent annual expenditures. Other departments expected to receive federal COVID‑19 funding for new programs, which increases the risks for the State, as new programs require departments to quickly establish new management controls. Because a significant amount of the federal COVID‑19 funding was directed at federal programs that provide assistance to individuals who are not working or have low incomes, failure by the departments that implement these programs to engage in adequate outreach efforts could have left Californians without medical care or money to pay for housing and food for themselves and their families. Furthermore, departments have faced significant hurdles in managing federal COVID‑19 funds, such as monitoring subrecipients or vendors, creating a high risk for inefficiencies and waste.

See this issue previously reported at http://auditor.ca.gov/reports/2020-602/index.html.

 

California.  8-31-21  Bongino Report

Businesses exiting California surges in 2021, dealing ‘death knell’ to state’s economy

California has seen 265 companies relocate their headquarters outside of the state

https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/businesses-exiting-california-2021

 

California.  11-3-21

Statewide Initiative to Restore a Neighborhood Voice by Reversing Sacramento Housing Laws Begins to Gather Voter Signatures

Statewide Initiative to Restore a Neighborhood Voice by Reversing Sacramento Housing Laws Begins to Gather Voter Signatures

November 3, 2021 By Stephen Frank

Lou Penrose,  11/2/21 

Community leaders fighting back against “blank check to developers” that allow multi-unit and multi-story projects next to single-family homes without neighborhood input

California — In the past several years, Sacramento politicians have passed numerous laws that take away the ability of local communities to make thoughtful planning decisions. These laws are denying Californians the right to speak out in a meaningful way when developers are damaging and gentrifying their neighborhoods.

These new laws allow developers to build large multifamily buildings next door to single-family homes without local approval, without community input, and without any new contributions to fund transit, schools, parks, roads, public safety or other services. The new state laws allow developers to build expensive new housing without requiring any units to be reserved for affordable housing and with zero contributions to affordable housing programs.

The Our Neighborhood Voices Initiative will restore local planning input and the ability of residents to speak out about what is happening next door to their homes and apartments.

The growing coalition of local leaders and neighborhood groups dedicated to preserving a neighborhood voice in city planning have begun to collect signatures to qualify a statewide ballot measure that restores California residents’ voice in community decisions — versus new state laws that give for-profit developers a blank check to build in single-family neighborhoods without community input or any contributions to fund local services or affordable housing.

The measure will protect a community’s ability to shape local growth, preserve the character of neighborhoods, and require developers to produce more affordable housing and contribute to the costs associated with new housing.

The Our Neighborhood Voices Initiative seeks to qualify for the November 2022 ballot.

The five proponents of the initiative include three locally elected officials, a former city planning commissioner and an affordable housing advocate. The group cuts across partisan lines, and represents different races, genders and economic classes.

The proponents point out the new housing laws recently passed in Sacramento require taxpayers to subsidize the costs of new developments instead of the developers who profit from them, which increases the tax burden on California’s working families.

Original Proponent and author of the initiative, Bill Brand, Mayor of Redondo Beach, said, “The one-size-fits-all approach coming from Sacramento will be disastrous for our State. Not only does it ignore the specific needs, challenges and diversity of the 58 counties and 482 cities in California, it ends single-family zoning in the entire state in one fell swoop. We must do what’s best for California, not what’s most profitable for developers.”

Proponent John Heath, founding President of the United Homeowners’ Association, said, “turning local planning decisions over to developers means massive displacement and gentrification. It does not mean new affordable housing. Our communities deserve to be heard – and that’s why we are uniting to preserve our community voices.”

Proponent Jovita Mendoza, of the Brentwood City Council, said, “we all care about affordable housing and housing choice. We also care about our infrastructure. We need to make smart decisions for every city, and you can’t do that from an ivory tower.”

The Our Neighborhood Voices Initiative can be found at OurNeighborhoodVoices.com.

———————————————-

Wednesday, August 24th 2022

California to ban sale of all new gasoline-powered cars starting in 2035, a “historic turning point”

5-17-24 Electricity Billing Changes

Walters: How California’s new fixed utility charge got its sneaky start in the Legislature

By Stephen Frank on May 17, 2024 02:01 pm

Look at your utility bill—thanks to the Democrat Legislature and Newsom, you have a secret $24.80 fee added to your bill.  At the same time, the same people pass legislation outlawing surcharges on restaurant bills and limit bank surcharges. “Fixed

The post Walters: How California’s new fixed utility charge got its sneaky start in the Legislature appeared first on .

Walters: How California’s new fixed utility charge got its sneaky start in the Legislature

Walters: How California’s new fixed utility charge got its sneaky start in the Legislature – (capoliticalnewsandviews.com)

Stephen Frank

Look at your utility bill—thanks to the Democrat Legislature and Newsom, you have a secret $24.80 fee added to your bill.  At the same time, the same people pass legislation outlawing surcharges on restaurant bills and limit bank surcharges.

“Fixed charges collected by the latter have long been limited to $10 a month, but that’s about to change, thanks to legislation that was enacted in semi-secrecy two years ago. A few words in a lengthy state budget “trailer bill,” Assembly Bill 205, repealed the $10 cap and ordered the CPUC to create a new charge that would vary by customers’ incomes.

PG&E and other utilities submitted proposals to the CPUC for fixed charges ranging from $20 a month to as much as $128 in three income tiers, as the law required. When they became public, a political firestorm ensued. Critics focused both on the income redistribution principle of the proposed charges and the rather sneaky way in which Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature enacted them.”

Why is California in a Doom Loop?  Democrats are nickel and diming us into fleeing the State.

How California’s new fixed utility charge got its sneaky start in the Legislature

BY DAN WALTERS, CalMatters,  5/15/24     https://calmatters.org/commentary/2024/05/california-fixed-utility-charge-sneaky/

I received and paid my monthly electric bill from the Sacramento Municipal Utility District the other day.

In addition to $75.76 in metered power consumption and $1.58 in taxes, SMUD’s bill included a $24.80 “system infrastructure fixed charge” that, frankly, I’d never noticed before in decades of receiving SMUD service.

Such charges, meant to pay for the upkeep of the system no matter how much juice is used, are commonly billed to customers of both publicly owned systems, such as SMUD, and investor-owned corporations, such as Pacific Gas and Electric Co., that are regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission.

Fixed charges collected by the latter have long been limited to $10 a month, but that’s about to change, thanks to legislation that was enacted in semi-secrecy two years ago. A few words in a lengthy state budget “trailer bill,” Assembly Bill 205, repealed the $10 cap and ordered the CPUC to create a new charge that would vary by customers’ incomes.

PG&E and other utilities submitted proposals to the CPUC for fixed charges ranging from $20 a month to as much as $128 in three income tiers, as the law required. When they became public, a political firestorm ensued. Critics focused both on the income redistribution principle of the proposed charges and the rather sneaky way in which Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature enacted them.

Eventually, the CPUC compressed the widely spaced tiers in the utilities’ proposals and approved a $24.15 fixed charge – roughly what SMUD and other municipal utilities have been billing – with $12 and $6 for those in lower-income brackets.

The CPUC’s plan also lowers rates for consumption, which will at least partially offset the fixed charges.

There’s nothing wrong, per se, with fixed charges for utility service. Customers should be charged for the maintenance of the distribution systems. However, there’s everything wrong with the way in which the new pricing scheme was enacted.

Newsom included it in one of the dozens of trailer bills his administration drafted for passage late in 2022-23 budget negotiations. It was enacted with virtually no discussion – a classic example of how trailer bills have become vehicles for governors and legislators to make major policy changes on the sly.

It should have been proposed in a separate bill disconnected from the budget, gone through committee hearings and other traditional legislative processes, including debates and floor votes in the state Senate and Assembly.

As a trailer bill, however, it was hastily enacted without such exposure. Thus, many of the legislators who would later criticize the change actually voted for AB 205 without knowing – or caring – what effect it would have.

Last week, Newsom unveiled a much-revised 2024-25 state budget with hundreds of specific expenditure reductions to close a multibillion-dollar deficit. The administration has issued a list of 64 trailer bills it wants to be enacted.

Many – probably most – will in fact be related to the budget. But it’s dead certain that when their details are finally drafted, some will contain significant policy changes that have little or nothing to do with the budget.

Having been burned by AB 205, legislators should pay more attention to what they are being asked to do, and not just rubberstamp the forthcoming torrent of trailer bills.

The late H.L. Richardson was a Republican state senator in the 1970s and 1980s who pioneered the use of technology in political campaigns, with notable success. He also wrote a book, published in 1978, entitled “What Makes You Think We Read The Bills?”

The question is as relevant today as it was 46 years ago.

5-18-24 California Electricity Changes  

Outrage Builds Over Major Changes in the Way Californians Will Pay for Electricity (msn.com)

Outrage Builds Over Major Changes in the Way Californians Will Pay for Electricity©Wikimedia/Wikimedia

California is undergoing a significant overhaul in its electricity billing method. The state lawmakers approved a complex energy bill two years ago with minimal debate, enabling sweeping changes in how most Californians are billed for electricity.

This shift was initiated by Pacific Gas & Electric, which had requested such changes from the state public utilities commission.

Origin and Approval of the Legislation©CAgovernor/X

Governor Gavin Newsom introduced this legislation as part of a substantial 2022 budget revision. Within four days, it passed through an Assembly committee hearing without discussion, received approval from both the Assembly and Senate, and was signed into law by Newsom.

The process was unusually rapid for such a significant legislative change.

New Monthly Fee©Freepik

The new legislation, which was backed by State utility regulators this month, will allow California’s largest power companies to implement a new flat monthly fee.

In return, the state has been promised a reduction in the overall price of electricity. The controversial change will affect how millions of Californians pay their utility bills.

Californians Could Experience an 18% Cut on their Utility Bill©Towfiqu barbhuiya/Unsplash

The new policy requires power companies to reduce the price individual households pay when they charge their phones or run heavy appliances such as air conditioners.

According to the commission’s analysis, the rate cut can range from 8 to 18%, depending on several factors, including the season, time of day, and utility.

Making Up the Lost Revenue©Frederick Warren/Unsplash

However, there is a catch, which aims to make up for the lost revenue. Regulators have introduced the new “fixed charge,” which differs from the traditional billing method.

For decades, utility bills from companies such as Pacific Gas & Electric and San Diego Gas & Electric have been “pay as you go.” Now, this is set to change.

Monthly Fee Begins Next Year©Freepik

The new monthly fixed charge will begin next year for SCE and SDG&E customers, and for those signed with PG&E, it will commence in early 2026.

Ultimately, what this means is that California’s investor-owned utility companies are now permitted to charge residents a monthly fee regardless of how much electricity they draw from the state grid.

Objectives Behind the New Billing System©Priscilla Du Preez/Unsplash

The three largest investor-owned power companies in the state advocated for the change, arguing that it would promote the use of electric vehicles and electric-powered appliances.

They claimed that the new monthly fee would help them “more evenly allocate fixed costs among customers,” making electric power more accessible and encouraging environmental sustainability.

Opposition and Concerns©Wikimedia Commons

Critics of the legislation argue that it serves as a financial boost to companies like Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric.

They argue the new policy will benefit larger homes, which consume more electricity, at the expense of smaller homes and apartments, which use less.

Environmental Working Group President Criticizes the Policy©Freepik

Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group, criticized the policy during a recently released statement.

He said, “If you wanted to design a policy that would send the signal that conservation doesn’t count, this would be it.”

Impending Implementation of New Charges©Fré Sonneveld/Unsplash

With the new legislation in place, the California Public Utilities Commission is set to implement a $24 monthly charge.

This development is forthcoming even as some lawmakers who supported the original legislation now seek to reverse their decision.

Environmental Groups Raise Concerns©Freepik

The law quietly passed by Newsom in 2022 has garnered considerable attention in recent months, as a coalition of over 250 environmental and community groups has risen in protest.

The groups argued that the law was passed with minimal public input and too much utility influence.

Broader Trends and Criticisms©Thomas Kelley/Unsplash

There is a broader trend nationwide, as noted by Ken Cook, where utilities are shifting more costs onto fixed fees, which they collect regardless of consumption. Cook pointed out, “This is easy money.”

Critics say this approach reduces the incentive for energy conservation and disproportionately impacts those who use less energy.

Economic Implications for Consumers©Markus Spiske/Unsplash

Despite concerns, the CPUC argues that the new rate structure makes electric power more affordable across various demographics, potentially saving individuals who fully electrify their homes between $28 and $44 monthly compared to the current billing system.

This new structure, however, still charges higher rates during peak evening hours to encourage energy conservation.

Financial Impact and Revenue Neutrality©Kelly Sikkema/Unsplash

Terrie Prosper, the CPUC’s director of strategic communications, stated, “The flat-rate design will not increase utility revenues; the flat rate is not a new fee — it simply reallocates how electricity costs are paid for on bills.”

This statement aims to clarify that the changes are meant to distribute costs more fairly without increasing overall charges.

Necessary to Bring Down Bills©Freepik

Those who stood firm in their decision to back the bill have argued it was necessary to help bring down the price of electricity in California.

State regulators want to ensure that all new vehicles sold after 2035 are electric, but this goal would be unachievable should electricity prices remain high.

CPUC President Speaks on States Plans©Kelly Sikkema/Unsplash

Speaking at a hearing, CPUC President Alice Reynolds said the state’s planned “transition to all-electric homes, cars and trucks is truly transformative.”

He went on to suggest that all customers “will be better off financially if they electrify — whether that’s purchasing an electric vehicle or switching out a gas appliance with an electric one.”

The Policy Overturns 50 Years of Precedent, Says Former CPUC President©Freepik

The former president of CPUC, Loretta Lynch, disagreed with Reynolds, claiming that the new policy overturns 50 years of regulatory precedent in the state.

“If you use more, you pay more, and that encourages conservation,“ said Lynch, who is clearly a critic of what she calls a “pro-utility” bias from the current body.

Academic Influence on the Legislation©Wikimedia Commons

The overhaul was partly inspired by a 2021 paper from UC Berkeley’s Energy Institute at Haas.

This paper advocated for a reduction in the rate per kilowatt hour and the introduction of a new fixed charge on bills to handle the increasing costs of renewable energy infrastructure and wildfire risk mitigation.

Concerns Over Academic and Utility Interactions©kiwi thompson/Unsplash

The Solar Rights Alliance has expressed concern over the potential conflict of interest, noting that the Energy Institute at Haas, which influenced the policy, received substantial funding from utility companies.

Severin Borenstein, a lead author of the paper, ensured, “We are not doing the bidding of any of these people.”

Legislative Developments and Utility Profits©Wikimedia Commons

As per Michael Backstrom, SoCal Edison’s vice president of regulatory affairs, the introduction of a new fixed charge ensures that “everyone using the grid is paying for its operation and upkeep.”

He emphasized, “There is no additional cost being collected; there’s no change to utility profits.”

Economist Says She’s Disappointed With New Policy©Freepik

Merideth Fowlie, a UC Berkeley economist and one of the initial researchers who came up with the idea of a fixed utility bill, claims the ultimate impact of the new policy is more muted than either side of the argument ones to admit.

“Clearly, I’m disappointed because I don’t think it comes close to where I think we should be in terms of reductions,” she said.

Fowlie Shares Her Thoughts on the New Policy©Freepik

In a statement, Fowlie went on to share her thoughts on the new policy.

“If this forces another conversation — which is, ‘Why are we paying for wildfire risk mitigation, which is essentially climate change adaptation, or some of these major investments in decarbonization, on bills?’ — I think that’s an important conversation to have,” she said.

Winners and Losers©Freepik

When it comes down to who will benefit from the new policy, it will save money for households that use a lot of electricity, such as those in AC-dependent parts of the state or those who drive large electric vehicles.

Meanwhile, lower-income households who are eligible to apply for a discounted fixed rate will also save money.

Future Directions and Legislative Responses©CAgovernor/X

Amidst ongoing debates and public dissatisfaction, California’s approach to electricity billing remains a contentious issue.

As the state navigates these changes, further legislative scrutiny and possible amendments are expected to ensure that adjustments to the fixed charge are revenue-neutral for utilities and do not serve as a means to increase profits.

Impact on Small Businesses©Wikipedia Commons

The new electricity billing system in California has significant implications for small businesses. Unlike residential users, small businesses may face higher costs due to their constant energy needs.

This has led to concerns from business owners and advocates who argue that the fixed charge disproportionately affects small businesses.

Comparison with Other States©Megan Bucknall/Unsplash

California’s new electricity billing system contrasts sharply with those in other states. For instance, states like Texas have different approaches that emphasize variable rates based on consumption.

This comparison reveals the unique challenges and advantages of California’s system. Experts argue that while some states prioritize affordability, California’s model focuses on sustainability and infrastructure costs, reflecting diverse priorities in energy policy.

Technological Innovations and Adaptations©🇻🇪 Jose G. Ortega Castro 🇲🇽/Unsplash

The shift to a new billing system is driving technological innovations in California’s energy sector. Smart grid technologies and energy-efficient appliances are becoming more prevalent as consumers seek to manage costs.

For example, companies are investing in advanced metering infrastructure to optimize energy distribution. These innovations not only help consumers adapt to the new billing method but also attempt to promote a more sustainable energy future.

Consumer Behavior and Energy Usage Patterns©NASA/Unsplash

The new billing system will likely influence consumer behavior regarding energy usage. Households may adopt more energy-efficient practices to mitigate the impact of the fixed fee. For example, homeowners may consider installing smart thermostats and LED lighting.

Studies indicate a trend towards reduced energy consumption during peak hours. This behavioral shift demonstrates a proactive response to the financial incentives embedded in the new billing structure.

Role of Renewable Energy©John Moore/Getty Images

Renewable energy plays a crucial role in California’s revamped billing system. Households with solar panels or wind turbines stand to benefit from the reduced variable costs, as well as tax incentives.

The new system encourages the adoption of renewable technologies, aligning with the state’s environmental goals.

Legal Challenges and Public Protests©Suwannar Kawila/Canva

Legal challenges and public protests are mounting against the new electricity billing system. Consumer advocacy groups have filed lawsuits, claiming the changes disproportionately impact low-energy users.

Public demonstrations have also erupted, with protestors arguing for more equitable billing practices.

Economic Impact on Low-Income Households©PhotoMIX Company/Pexels

The new billing system’s economic impact on low-income households is a significant concern.

While the policy promises programs to assist low-income households with the transition, it is unclear how effective these measures will be, especially in the long term.

Environmental Implications©Bram Van Oost/Unsplash

By shifting costs, California’s new policy aims to promote energy conservation and the use of electric vehicles. The reduction of variable costs for households using renewable energy sources also encourages the adoption of environmentally-friendly technologies, such as the aforementioned smart devices.

However, there are concerns that the policy could have unintended consequences, such as discouraging low-income households from investing in renewable energy due to the expensive upfront costs.

Future Policy Directions©Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons

Future policy directions in California may address the current billing system’s criticisms. Lawmakers are considering amendments to ensure the changes remain revenue-neutral for utilities while protecting consumers.

Potential adjustments include more dynamic pricing models or additional support for low-income households. These discussions reflect ongoing efforts to refine the policy in response to public feedback and economic realities.

Historical Context of Utility Billing in California©Sven Piper/Unsplash

California’s current overhaul of the electricity billing system is part of a long history of utility regulation in the state. For decades, the “pay as you go” model dominated.

This new fixed charge approach marks a significant departure from past practices.

Insights from Global Perspectives©Prashanta/Wikimedia Commons

Globally, various countries manage electricity billing with differing strategies that offer valuable insights for California. For example, Germany’s dynamic pricing model adjusts rates based on real-time usage, incentivizing energy conservation.

By examining these international practices, California can learn from successful implementations and potentially integrate similar elements to enhance its own billing system.

Impact on Electric Vehicle Adoption©Tesla/X

The new billing system significantly impacts the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in California. With lower costs for charging, the thought is that more residents are likely to consider EVs.

This aligns with the state’s goal to have all new vehicles sold after 2035 be electric. By making electricity more affordable, the policy supports broader environmental initiatives and helps drive the transition towards a cleaner transportation sector.