The California State Controller released the audit of California’s financial statements, performed by the State Auditor for the year ending June 30, 2022, on March 15. The annual comprehensive financial report should have been issued some 15 months sooner. Looking at the document, we are immediately informed on the first page of the Report Overview...
When it comes to the reporting of the accounting of our 50 states, two main concerns can be observed. The first is the delinquency rate of several states. For the fiscal year June 30, 2022, 20 states released their audited financial statements within six months. There are four states that deviate from the norm, with...
The California Energy Commission (CEC) has set planning goals for floating offshore wind turbines, calling for between 2 and 5 gigawatts of “nameplate capacity” operating by 2030, and 25 gigawatts by 2045. Note “floating.” Unlike off the East Coast, or the North Sea, deep waters in California lie immediately offshore. So offshore wind in California...
The logical extension of California’s environmentalist policies is to end civilization as we know it. But California’s progressive elites are not crazy or stupid. So what is their actual motivation? The destruction of dams on the Klamath River provides an encouraging precedent for progressives throughout California. As was breathlessly reported in the San Francisco Chronicle and elsewhere, indigenous...
Executive Summary In Lindke v. Freed, the United States Supreme Court adopted a two-part test to determine whether a public official’s conduct on social media rises to state action for purposes of 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 (“Section 1983”). The Court evaluated the question of when social media use crosses the line from private action to...
While the confirmed skeptic will consider Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) to be the ultimate waste of money, it nonetheless is happening. Billions of dollars have already been committed, with no end in sight. Regardless of how one might judge its necessity, having some facts about CCS belongs in any serious discussion about California’s energy...
Prepared by Golden Together, a Movement to Restore the California Dream Lead Author, Edward Ring, California Policy Center Author Steve Hilton, Founder of Golden Together Published March 15, 2024
It would be inaccurate to suggest that California’s state legislature can no longer think big. They can, and as such they are carrying on a tradition that two generations ago gave us the best universities in the world, expressways and freeways that helped catalyze a boom that lasted for decades, and the most remarkable system...
The state of California has 58 counties and 482 cities. To provide manageable fiscal rankings, I’ve divided the state into eight regions, closely following the districts established by Caltrans. The Bay Area, Caltrans District 4, has 101 cities. The rankings for 2020 are compared to those of 2019 in the graph below. For an explanation...
In a normal year, by the end of March downtown Los Angeles receives 13 inches of rain. Last year 27.8 inches fell, and through March 3 of this year, 21.3 inches has already fallen. This suggests that both this year and last year, over 1.0 million acre feet of rainfall hit the region. Even in...
Grant Allen once lamented, “What a misfortune it is that we should thus be compelled to let our boys’ schooling interfere with their education!” These words, often attributed to Mark Twain, encapsulate a sentiment that education transcends the walls of a schoolhouse, echoing the belief that learning should not be confined to a classroom. Increasingly,...
Having served on the California State Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee during my six years in Sacramento, I was recently challenged to take a closer look at Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed budget. I started with his Jan. 10, 2024, budget message to the members of the California State Legislature. I was not amused. It...
Californians pay some of the highest prices for energy in the United States. Gasoline last year averaged $4.89 per gallon, and diesel fuel $5.07 per gallon, both the highest in the country. Electricity rates had California 45th in the nation in 2023 at $0.27 per kilowatt-hour, the worst of every major state with the sole exception of Massachusetts, which...
State leaders are setting an example that the world—and Golden State residents—can’t afford to follow. Determined to save the world from climate change, California has nearly shut down its oil and gas industry, though the Golden State currently gets 50 percent of its total energy from oil and another 34 percent from gas. The state’s most recent...