Pacific Research Institute

Two years ago this month, a rider died while napping between deliveries on his electric bike in Hangzhou, the bustling capital of Zhejiang province. Surnamed Yuan, he was known as the “Order King” for grueling 18-hour days. He died from exhaustion. Yuan’s death sparked outrage. “He was in his 50s, the sole breadwinner of his family, working day and night,” one online poster noted. “May he rest in peace.

California has a budget problem. Proposition 40 will make it worse. The November ballot measure promises an irresistible political bargain: Tax roughly 200 billionaires, raise tens of billions of dollars and use the money for health care, education and food assistance. But there’s a catch buried in the state’s own fiscal analysis.

The Midterms Loom, Republicans Would Be Wise to Run on Healthcare Reform Ever since the congressional GOP failed to repeal Obamacare and then lost the 2018 midterms, Republicans have shied away from running on market-based healthcare reform. But that’s the wrong strategy, according to President Trump’s chief pollster Tony Fabrizio and top White House aides.

Small businesses have struggled with the rising cost of health insurance for years. The Trump administration may soon give them a meaningful way to fight back.

A bill that would allow portable solar devices to be installed in apartment complexes and condominiums, as well as in back yards and small patios, is just a Gavin Newsom signature away from becoming law. While it’s a small step for lowering power bills, it is no giant leap toward California energy abundance and affordability. That will require much bolder legislative action. The Plug and Play Solar Act, Senate Bill 868, is “a simple, low-cost tool” for reducing energy bills.

On the heels of an announcement to allow 300,000 tons of beef into the U.S. without tariffs, the President announced late last week that the Administration was looking to “allow farmers and ranchers to be given the right to process their own food.” According to the President’s announcement on Truth Social, the goal of the deregulation plan is to address the perceived monopoly in meat packing by the “Big 4” (JBS, Tyson, Cargill, and National Beef).

California drivers already pay some of the nation’s highest prices for gasoline, electricity and car ownership. Now, Sacramento is giving us something else to worry about: How much we’ll pay for our next set of tires. Regulators at the state Energy Commission just approved the nation’s first “efficiency standard” for replacement tires sold for passenger vehicles and light-duty trucks in California. Gov.

by Steven Greenhut | September 4, 2026 Four years ago, California enjoyed an astounding $97.5-billion surplus, but now the supposedly “balanced” budget faces an intractable structural deficit, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office. Given economic headwinds caused by runaway inflation and fears of a recession, the last thing California needs is legislation that would hammer the state budget and put additional pressure on local governments.

After 7 1/2 years as governor, Gavin Newsom still does not understand the scope and limits of his gubernatorial powers. On July 13, California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued to block Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. On August 1, The Wall Street Journal reported that Governor Newsom had expressed his view that blocking the deal would adversely impact employment in California and had encouraged the California Attorney General Bonta to reach a compromise out of court.

By D. Dowd Muska | September 4, 2026 It’s so obvious, even Los Angeles gets it. In response to the savage firestorms that struck California’s largest metro region in January 2025, both the city and county of Los Angeles enacted a promising affordable-housing reform.