by jpitney | Jul 4, 2025 | California Politics, Housing
Tobias Peter and Edward J. Pinto at AEI: In the 1970s, California had normal home prices—about on par with the rest of the nation. But since then, a toxic mix of ever-tightening environmental regulations, arcane zoning laws, and relentless NIMBY (Not in My Backyard)...
by jpitney | Jun 30, 2025 | California Politics, Democracy, Polarization
Mark Z. Barabak at LAT: Democrats may be California’s majority party, enjoying a sizable registration advantage. They hold 60 of 80 seats in the Assembly and 30 of 40 in the state Senate. But the state has nearly 6 million registered Republicans. There are doubtless...
by jpitney | Jun 27, 2025 | California Politics
Dan Walters at CalMatters: [All] of the versions of the budget, including the semi-final one unveiled this week, would fill the gaps for another year with payment deferrals, loans, accounting gimmicks and raids on reserves meant to cushion the effects of genuine...
by jpitney | Jun 14, 2025 | California Politics, Constitution, Federalism, State Government
Tenth Amendment: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people Nathan Gardels at Noema: The most effective first line of defense for the states is to...
by jpitney | Jun 7, 2025 | California Politics, Economic Policy
Dan Walters at CalMatters: The disappearance of inter-party competition means Democrats have been free to implement their responses to multiple issues spawned by the state’s economic and cultural complexity — such things as erratic water supply, low-performing public...
by jpitney | May 26, 2025 | California Politics, Immigration, Population, Technology
Jim Carlton and Paul Overberg at WSJ: The state’s population rose 0.6% in 2024, reaching 39.43 million by adding almost a quarter-million people, according to Census Bureau estimates…Yet California’s growth is tenuous. Without immigration, it would have shrunk...
