Pacific Research Institute

10/15/2026

Reinsurance is the insurance that insurers buy to protect against catastrophic losses. Until recent reforms, California did not allow insurers to factor reinsurance costs into their rates.

The Sustainable Insurance Strategy changed that. Steven Greenhut explains why allowing insurers to account for these costs is one part of creating a more stable and sustainable insurance market.

10/15/2026

"AI is merely software. It is powerful and imperfect, and it does what the people who build and deploy it set it up to do. California doesn’t need an off switch. It needs to turn the power on." writes PRI's Bartlett Cleland.

Read "California Needs an On Switch, Not an Off Switch" here:

Gov. Newsom's direction on AI is clear: more state control over the technology, and less room to build it. Californians should be skeptical of both.

10/14/2026

This week, Tim is joined by PRI senior fellow in business and economics Dr. Wayne Winegarden to discuss his latest research on how a California wealth tax would jeopardize venture capital investment in the state and set middle class Californians up for inevitable future tax increases.

Watch here:

This week, Tim is joined by PRI senior fellow in business and economics Dr. Wayne Winegarden to discuss his latest research on how a California wealth tax would jeopardize venture capital investment in the state and set middle class Californians up for inevitable future tax increases.

10/14/2026

"The governor’s second admission of guilt is a welcomed development, but Newsom has much to answer for. It’s unlikely, though, that he will have to pay for his mistakes and unnecessarily aggressive liberty-smothering policies." writes PRI's Kerry Jackson.

Read "Newsom’s Greatest COVID ‘Hits’" here:

Gavin Newsom now admits that he has regrets over his COVID response, which was rated as being among the most restrictive in the nation

10/13/2026

"Protecting public programs from fraud isn’t cruel. It’s how government ensures that taxpayer dollars actually reach the people Congress intended to help." writes PRI's Sally Pipes.

Read her latest op-ed "Obamacare Vulnerable to a Real Fraud Problem" here:

Voters should know what Medicare for All actually means before deciding whether that's the healthcare system they want.

10/13/2026

"A reliable license-plate read collected by companies like Flock can reduce thousands of possible vehicles to one, allowing police to concentrate on the car the evidence actually identifies." writes PRI's Steve Smith.

Read "The Evidence We Leave Behind" here:

On November 13, 2022, my daughter and I had breakfast in Moscow, Idaho, a Dad’s Weekend tradition from her years at Washington State University. We drove through the University of Idaho campus before returning to Pullman. Less than an hour later, a 911 call brought Moscow police to a house on King...

10/12/2026

"'Medicare for All' would put Washington in much the same position. As costs mounted, officials would inevitably face pressure to limit spending. The long waits in Britain and Canada show one way that pressure can affect patients." writes PRI's Sally Pipes.

Read "Medicare for All comes with a human cost voters don’t realize" in the Washington Examiner here:

Voters should know what Medicare for All actually means before deciding whether that's the healthcare system they want.

10/12/2026

"Brown’s successor, Gov. Gavin Newsom, has leaned more into the progressive agenda — and at times has seemed willing to undermine Brown’s legacy regarding, say, and state spending priorities. So it was heartening that recently Newsom vetoed a bill (Assembly Bill 1383) that would have obliterated one of Brown’s signature legislative victories: pension reform." writes PRI's Steven Greenhut.

Read "Newsom saves cities from bipartisan pension-hiking legislation" here:

Newsom saves cities from bipartisan pension-hiking legislation by Steven Greenhut | October 9, 2026 Jerry Brown took his share of indefensible positions in his final two terms as governor, but even Republicans acknowledged that he was the last adult in Sacramento — a backstop against the zaniest i...

10/11/2026

"The FDA has begun targeting illicit peptide sellers. Now it needs to address the supply chains that keep them in business." writes PRI's Sally Pipes.

Read "The FDA Is Struggling To Police The Peptide Boom" in Forbes:

Policies that make intellectual-property rights less secure, make university-industry partnerships more difficult, or otherwise discourage companies from investing in federally supported discoveries may be intended to save the government money or give Washington more control in the short run. But in...

10/11/2026

The study, “You’re Next: How a California Wealth Tax Could Reduce Investment, Jobs and Income – and Increase Pressure for Broader Tax Hikes,” estimates that a California wealth tax as envisioned in Prop. 40 could result in:

💠 $65.5 billion less venture-capital investment;
💠 More than 230,000 fewer jobs created;
💠 Almost $1,700 less income growth for the average family;
💠 A state economy that is 3.4% smaller relative to baseline growth over five years; and
💠 $5 billion to more than $7 billion annually in lost state revenue from slower growth.

Read the study here:

SACRAMENTO – A new Pacific Research Institute study released today finds that average Californians could ultimately bear significant economic costs from a wealth tax – through fewer job opportunities, weaker income growth and increased fiscal pressure that could eventually reach their own tax bi...