Opinión
Rocklin Unified Takes Parental Notification Fight to U.S. Supreme Court
Rocklin Unified School District (RUSD) filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday in a case challenging the authority of California’s labor relations board to…
How Much CO2 Do Oil Tankers Emit En-Route to California?
With war in the Middle East disrupting shipments of crude oil, we have another reason to question policies that are driving our in-state oil industry into terminal decline. To briefly recap, Californians…
The process is the punishment: Sacramento’s war on Orange County
California’s teacher unions aren’t accustomed to losing elections, but they’ve lost control of the Orange County Board of Education, the state’s third largest county board. In just five election cycles, the Orange…
Floating Offshore Wind – A Financial and Environmental Catastrophe
Earlier this year, the California Coastal Commission released a report titled “Statewide Strategy for the Coexistence of California Fishing Communities and Offshore Wind Energy.” In addition to providing a “guiding framework” to…
Will Swaim: Federal court ruling exposes AG Rob Bonta
An adverse legal ruling by a federal court in Texas may mean legal trouble for California Attorney General Rob Bonta in more than one way. The Texas court’s decision not only allows…
The Free Money Trap: How Laundered Compassion Fuels a Culture of Abuse and Fraud
The headlines are, by now, a wearying routine. In 2025, a federal takedown revealed $14.6 billion in Medicare fraud, involving kickbacks for allegedly unnecessary tests. In Minnesota, the Feeding our Future scandal…
Federal Options for Large Scale Seawater Desalination
The Carlsbad desalination plant is reportedly operating at half-capacity, basically because it’s less expensive to import water from the Colorado River. That is likely to change, as Arizona’s Department of Water Resources…
No, Sorry, the War Doesn’t Mean “Renewables” Will Replace Oil
Right on schedule, the climate activists and their corporate backers are capitalizing on wartime fuel shortages to claim that now, finally, we can get serious about fighting climate change. On March 15,…
California on the Cusp
California voters will decide this year whether the state will remain the global center of technology innovation or begin a steady decline. Their choice for governor and on a key ballot initiative…
The Economics of Managing Mono Lake
Along with the California Condor, one of our state’s most magnificent environmental success stories of the 20th century is how Mono Lake was saved. In the early 1980s, after decades of unsustainable…
Rethinking California’s Safety Net: A Call for True Compassion
Imagine ten regular adults pulling a large, empty cart along a flat road. As one participant is injured, the group loads the person into the cart and, with relative ease, continues on…
LAUSD is broke, and the union knows it
After Los Angeles Unified delivered 3,200 pink slips to teachers and employees last month, the United Teachers Los Angeles has the temerity to strike for higher pay. As one of the most…
The Many Benefits of Dredging the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
The salmon decline in the delta has been attributed to the impact of water withdrawals into the California Aqueduct and the Delta Mendota Canal. But something else happened at the same time…
Why Data Centers Will Create Electricity Abundance
There is concern that the energy requirements of data centers will consume so much electricity that demand will overwhelm supply. While this is certainly a possible outcome, the actual impact may have…
Report Overview: Creating Opportunities to Bring Seawater Desalination to Coastal Federal Lands in California
Executive Summary California’s water supply challenges increasingly pose risks not only to the state’s economy, but to national food production, interstate commerce, international trade, and national economic stability and security. While seawater…
Supreme Court delivers major win for California parents in Mirabelli case
The U.S. Supreme Court this week delivered a decisive win for California parents and parental rights nationwide. In a 6-3 ruling, the High Court partially vacated the stay put in place by…
The Asymmetric Advantages of Environmentalist Zealotry
With the world anxiously watching the conflict in Iran, it was no surprise that the first segment in the March 1 edition of CBS’s 60 Minutes featured an interview with Reza Pahlavi,…
Building the Abundant Water Coalition
If enough people in California agreed on a state water strategy, the political obstacles would be overcome. If every major water agency, every farming association, and a critical mass of environmental groups…
California’s High-Speed Rail: The 2026 Draft Business Plan Is Ambitious, Expensive, and Still Legally Problematic
The California High-Speed Rail Authority released its 2026 Draft Business Plan on February 28, two years after the prior plan and in a radically different environment than when that last plan was…
Who’s Your Daddy?
It’s been an amazing week in California news, both for what’s in it as well as what’s not. The Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday that sex-assault claims are so widespread in…
Bonta Sues to Keep Parents in the Dark
The lawsuit comes after a federal investigation sparked by a California Justice Center complaint exposing FERPA violations. Just weeks after a federal investigation found that the California Department of Education had “egregiously…
The Municipal Financial Crisis — Four Years Later
The municipal financial crisis is more urgent than ever. It has been four years since my book, The Municipal Financial Crisis, was published by Palgrave Macmillan. I wrote the book to bring…
Can Energy and Water Interests Find a Common Agenda?
It’s a risk to promote an agenda that calls for practical water projects, and at the same time, calls for practical energy projects. To begin with, the word “practical,” in both cases,…
Trump Repeals EPA’s Endangerment Finding, Preserving Affordable Energy and Housing
On February 12, the Trump Administration formally repealed the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2009 “endangerment finding” that gave the EPA authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from virtually anything that used energy, including…
California High-Speed Rail at a Crossroads
California’s high-speed rail project has never lacked for drama, but the challenges converging on the California High-Speed Rail Authority in early 2026 represent something qualitatively different from the delays, cost overruns, and…
What Will California Gas Prices Do in 2026?
About the time it became inevitable that California was going to lose two major refineries, in May of last year, an alarming study was released by Michael Mische, an economist and business…
California’s healthcare industrial complex is booming. Guess who’s paying?
California’s hospitals recorded $11.3 billion in total net income in 2024 — 10% above pre-pandemic levels. The average hospital CEO in the state earns roughly $920,000 a year. And the largest union…
California Forever Stagnating
When Permission Replaces Property Rights, the California Dream Becomes a Dream Deferred For over a century, California stood as a frontier of first resort for the ambitious, attracting those eager to escape…
Governor Newsom: Turn Up the Delta Pumps!
When it comes to the water supply in California for cities and farms, nothing matters more than how we manage the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. As of 2/09 we were 132 days into…
The $921M Special Interest Machine That Controls California
Public sector unions collect nearly $1 billion a year to control Sacramento. Normal citizens? A trickle against a torrent. TL;DR California’s public sector unions rake in $921 million annually and spend hundreds…
Large Scale Desalination Belongs in California’s Water Strategy
In debates over water policy in California, a common argument is that if only we managed the systems we’ve already got, there would be plenty of water for everyone. Agricultural and urban…
Can California’s Oil Industry Survive?
Even confirmed skeptics should be impressed at the rapid improvement in the price and performance of EVs. A new 2026 Nissan Leaf sells for just under $30,000, and can charge in 30…
Federal Investigation Finds California Department of Education Violated FERPA by Keeping Secrets from Parents
The U.S. Department of Education announced this week that its investigation into the California Department of Education found that state policies that pressure schools to keep secrets from parents violate federal law.…
California’s Drought is Over, But We Still Must Invest in Water Supply Projects
For the last 25 years, the US Drought Monitor (USDM), a collaborative effort by the University of Nebraska, NOAA, the USDA, and other experts throughout the country, has released a weekly map…
Study Finds U.S. Drought Monitor Has Overstated Drought Conditions in California for 25 Years
IRVINE, CA — For 25 years, the U.S. Drought Monitor has significantly exaggerated drought conditions in California, providing state officials with the pretext for a range of climate-change policies that have crippled…
Newsom’s Education Legacy: Rising Costs, Declining Performance
Earlier this month, Governor Gavin Newsom submitted his proposed 2026-27 budget to the legislature, weighing in at nearly $349 billion. His budget plan came one day after he gave the last State…
Commentary: Six Ways to Improve Schools
America’s schools won’t recover through more spending or slogans, but through a return to proven basics—clear instruction, firm discipline, accountable teaching, and classrooms focused on learning. As someone who attended public school…
Why Fossil Fuel Use Must Increase: The Numerical Reality
The Statistical Review of Global Energy, has been published every year since 2023 by The Energy Institute. For nearly 75 years before that it was published by British Petroleum. It is one…
Newsom Has His Own Massive State Fraud Problem
California’s scandal dwarfs Minnesota’s. Tim Walz perp-walked himself out of the Minnesota governor’s race this past week, beset by evidence that fraudsters have plundered his state’s federally funded food, housing, daycare, and…
The Denominators of our Prosperity – Energy and Water
The premise of this newsletter is that abundant and affordable energy and water are prerequisites to solving every other challenge standing in the way of lowering California’s overall cost-of-living. Not only because…
The Neglected Government Balance Sheet
For years, cities have implemented various metrics and scoring systems to assess their fiscal condition. The Government Finance Officers Association provides a “Fiscal First Aid” program complete with a multi-step process for…
What San Diego County Cities Did With Their Tax Dollars in 2024
How is your city doing? My city just announced that it’s looking at putting two measures on the ballot to increase taxes and fees. And based on its low ranking, it either…
The Union that May Have Broken California
2026 began with revelations that numerous billionaires owning upwards of $1 trillion in assets had cut ties with California just before the ball dropped on January 1. These well-heeled folks did not…
Fading Ripples from Gov. Newsom’s Last State of the State Address
It’s been years since Gov. Gavin Newsom put on a tie and made his way to the Assembly Chambers to grace the legislature with his presence and share some witty lines his…
How the Left and Right Can Unite to Restore Opportunity in America
The scandals erupting in Minnesota offer another example of how easy it is for generous U.S. welfare programs to squander billions of dollars. And while it’s important to hold accountable the individuals…
What to Do with California’s Billionaire Tax Proceeds
A health-care union’s ‘one-time fix’ for federal Medicaid cuts could easily become permanent. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), one of the largest labor unions in the country, has launched an experiment…
Reversing California’s Policies of Scarcity
A new year has begun, and here in California, 2026 promises to deliver challenges that may at last transform the state’s energy and water policies. Let’s begin with a quick look at…
Federal Judge Issues Permanent Injunction Against Parental Exclusion Policies in California Schools
SAN DIEGO – In a landmark victory for parental rights, a federal judge in Southern California ruled Monday that parents have a constitutional right to be informed if their minor child socially…
Parental Freedom Update
According to EdChoice, about 1.5 million students are now enrolled in voucher, educational savings account (ESA), and tax-credit programs, nearly doubling the number from just three years ago. Education Week reports that…
The Public Purpose Program: California’s Hidden Tax Driving Up Utility Bills
After several rate hikes implemented in the last few years alone, Californians are asking why their energy bills keep climbing when they use the same amount of electricity or gas. According to…
Will the Delta Pumps Operate at Capacity this Winter?
With another series of drenching storms about to hit California, now is a good time to ask what has become a perennial question: why can’t we harvest more of this massive runoff…
The Million Petty Annoyances of California’s Regulatory State
The litany of reasons California is broken is well documented. The highest cost of living and the highest taxes. The highest percentages of homeless people and people living in poverty. Unaffordable homes…
When Past Meets Present: Russian California and the Monroe Doctrine
During this week’s Radio Free California podcast, cohosts David Bahnsen and myself discussed the return of the Monroe Doctrine, now offered as the logic behind the Trump administration’s decision to blow up…
Will Advocates for More Water Supply Projects Find Unity?
There’s only one way to restore reliable water allocations to farmers, avoid turning our cities into rationed “xeriscaped” heat islands, and cope with whatever the climate ultimately delivers. That’s to build more…
The Los Angeles Times Misses the Forest Fire Scandal for the Trees
The real story is not ‘climate change.’ Most good news editors, whether they admit it or not, believe themselves Michelangelo’s heirs — men and women who chisel off the unnecessary bits of…
EVs and California’s Future Demand for Electricity
When it comes to the achievement of “carbon neutrality” and the requisite energy policies to get there, few choices carry with them more consequences than the planned, nearly total electrification of our…
Politically Viable Water Supply Projects
A few years ago I was involved in an effort to qualify a ballot initiative, the “Water Infrastructure Funding Act.” While we failed to gather sufficient signatures to get it onto the…
Is your school district on track to fail? The massive fiscal shift in LA County
It’s amazing what can happen in five years, especially when Gov. Gavin Newsom unilaterally imposed an overbearing pandemic lockdown on California’s school districts during this time period. And for an age group…
California’s War on Oil Actually Harms the Environment
In December 2023, an obscure federal agency known as the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management produced a “Field Reserve Estimate Summary” in which they claimed that up to 10 billion barrels of…
California’s Economy Grows More Dependent on AI
While California’s economy continues to produce some impressive headline numbers, its trajectory is becoming increasingly dependent on the tech sector. And now that tech has gone all in on artificial intelligence, the…
Explainer and Model Policies: Assembly Bill 495 and Parental Rights
Assembly Bill 495 (Celeste Rodriguez, D – San Fernando Valley) was passed by the legislature and signed into law by Governor Newsom, over the objections of many parental rights advocates, attorneys, and…
Civics Education Update
The latest news on history, civics, and patriotism in our public schools is a mixed bag. In the early days of our republic, George Washington understood that civic education was essential for…
Shifting Costs Does Not Solve California’s Electricity Shortages
California’s Little Hoover Commission was created in 1962 “as an independent and bipartisan state agency charged with making recommendations to the governor and Legislature on ways to make state programs more efficient.”…
How a Parody of Citizen Government Turned California Into a Hyper-Gerrymandered State
Ballot initiatives are supposed to empower the people to stand up to moneyed special interests. Fifteen states permit the people to pass laws and amend their state constitutions by popular vote. A…
CPC board promotes Will Swaim to CEO, Jackson Reese to President
The California Policy Center is pleased to announce that Will Swaim has been named Chief Executive Officer of the organization, and longtime Executive Vice President Jackson Reese has been promoted to President.…
The Regulatory Burden that Prevents Abundance
The cost-of-living has become a national issue, a favored topic of partisan debate. The debate is governed by emotions, ideology, and widely divergent economic theories, probably in that order. Our contribution to…
You Don’t Make Housing More Affordable by Making It More Expensive
Let me tell you something that shouldn’t need to be said: If you want housing to be affordable, you shouldn’t start by making it more expensive. Nationally, approximately 5% of the cost…
Boring Company May Have a Viable Alternative for California Urban Transit
Las Vegas is pioneering a new form of underground transportation that could one day benefit congested California cities at low cost. The Boring Company, founded by Elon Musk, is digging a series…
Lines for Gas Coming to California
Achieving California’s goal of net zero by 2045 requires rapidly transitioning away from combustible fuel. It’s a risky strategy. If the transition happens too fast, Californians confront energy shortages and high prices.…
Silicon Valley’s Growing Anti-Woke, Pro-Abundance Rebellion
To paraphrase and utterly subvert one of Karl Marx’s best-known quotes, a “spectre” is haunting Silicon Valley—the spectre of authentic abundance. All the powers of woke California have entered into an unholy…
10 Los Angeles County School Districts Make Big Changes in Fiscal Rankings in 2024
One would think that a few years after the COVID-19 lockdowns in California, things would settle down for school districts. But in Los Angeles County, for the fiscal year ending on June…
Post COVID Lockdowns, Los Angeles County School Districts Improved Financially in 2023
Out of the 79 school districts in Los Angeles County, 11 made double-digit moves in the fiscal rankings for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, over 2022. Was your district one…
Large Scale Desalination Could Transform California
Why is it axiomatic among California’s water agencies and policymakers that large scale desalination is inconceivable in California? That certainly isn’t the case in other arid locales. In 2024, an estimated 30…
New Study Shows Success of School Choice in Action
As California wallows in continued low student performance, a new study shows that school choice is making a positive difference in student outcomes in Arkansas. Recently released scores on California’s state tests…
Judge Certifies Class Action for Parents and Teachers in Lawsuit Challenging California’s Gender Secrecy Rules
A federal judge has certified a landmark class action lawsuit that could finally bring an end to California’s state-sanctioned “Parental Exclusion Policies” that order teachers to hide a child’s gender transition at…
A Review of Budget and Financial Results for Los Angeles County’s School Districts
Preparing school budgets is a monumental task. Julie Hamill, former trustee on the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District Board, recently recommended a great book on the subject. I’m sure most school…
California Union Goes to the Ballot to Shakedown Billionaires
SEIU (the Service Employees International Union) is at it again. After failing three times to use California ballot initiatives to shake down dialysis providers, the union is now turning its ballot warfare…
Oil Extraction Reduces Methane Seepage
An opinion piece in the Santa Barbara Independent, published last week, heralded the decision by the Santa Barbara County board of supervisors to phase out oil drilling, which as the authors put…
Hospital Strikes Show Why Healthcare Is NOT a Right
During this month’s government shutdown, Bernie Sanders has been repeating the standard Progressive shibboleth: “Healthcare is a Right!” While this slogan appears to be sufficient to silence opposition, it does not receive…
The Up-Down Coalition Is Turning Red
While the progressive candidates in America rely on millions of college-educated liberals as its base, it depends on two additional sources of political power. The loss of either one could be fatal…