Matters of Policy & Politics

California Update - Mental Vs. Fiscal Health, And Remembering A Rebuilder

The latest in the California, including a campaign to turn a coastal stretch of the Golden State into a new nation called “Pacifica”; the politics of “shrinkflation”; what this year’s US Senate race says about California’s top-two primary system; plus the legacy of the late C.C. Myers, who rebuilt the Santa Monica Freeway after 1994’s Northridge Earthquake.

Matters of Policy & PoliticsFebruary 15, 2024
California Update - Mental Vs. Fiscal Health, And Remembering A Rebuilder

California’s Proposition 1, a $6.38 billion bond addressing mental health treatment across the Golden State, seems destined for voter approval. Is it sound policy – and a sound expense for a state deeply in debt? Hoover senior fellow Lee Ohanian and distinguished policy fellow Bill Whalen, both contributors to Hoover’s “California on Your Mind” web channel, join Hoover senior product manager Jonathan Movroydis to discuss the latest in the California, including a campaign to turn a coastal stretch of the Golden State into a new nation called “Pacifica”; the politics of “shrinkflation”; what this year’s US Senate race says about California’s top-two primary system; plus the legacy of the late C.C. Myers, who rebuilt the Santa Monica Freeway after 1994’s Northridge Earthquake.

Cast

Lee Ohanian

Lee Ohanian

Bill Whalen

Bill Whalen

Related

Articles

Can We Solve Gun Violence?

Cities are the economic engine of America. The gravest threat to that engine is gun violence. Beyond the lives lost and families devastated, every murder that happens in an American city reduces that city’s population by seventy people—fewer people and businesses moving in, more moving out.

September 10, 2026

Videos

California’s War On Wealth—And America’s War On Terror

Is the progressive dream of wealth taxes soon to be reality – or a fiscal and economic nightmare – should voters approve Proposition 40 and a one-time 5% tax on the holdings of the Golden State’s billionaire class? And 25 years after one of the darkest days in the republic’s history, what is the legacy of the 9/11 attacks on America?

September 9, 2026

Articles

On Tire Regulations, Should California Tread Lightly?

State rulemakers shouldn’t rush into transforming an existing marketplace where consumers buy what they want and can afford. Innovation and competition mean better products will prevail without coercion.

August 31, 2026