Author: Edward Ring

Edward Ring is the director of water and energy policy for the California Policy Center, which he co-founded in 2013 and served as its first president. The California Policy Center is an educational non-profit focused on public policies that aim to improve California’s democracy and economy. He is also a senior fellow of the Center for American Greatness. Ring is the author of two books: "Fixing California - Abundance, Pragmatism, Optimism" (2021), and "The Abundance Choice - Our Fight for More Water in California" (2022).

Separating Good Bailouts from Bad Bailouts

May 13, 2020 2:07 amMay 13, 2020 2:35 pm

If a Republican controlled U.S. Senate and a Republican occupying the White House cannot use this opportunity to demand reforms from financially mismanaged states controlled by Democrats, then they never will. The pandemic shutdown is about to enter its...

State Legislature Continues Its Assault On Local Zoning Decisions

May 6, 2020 6:00 amMay 6, 2020 6:01 am

With the introduction of the latest housing density mandate, AB 725 in the California state legislature, the battle between state control and local control in California intensifies. At the same time, the pandemic crisis and its economic consequences add additional complexity to...

The Regulatory Taking of Venice Beach

May 1, 2020 2:12 amApril 30, 2020 4:47 pm

With great crisis comes great opportunity… By Edward Ring and Soledad Ursua On April 18 Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Bonin held a telephone town hall to discuss public health issues. His district includes Venice Beach, which has a high...

Rates of Pay and Pension Debt Escalating in California’s Distressed Cities

April 29, 2020 2:29 amApril 29, 2020 10:02 am

Nobody needs reminding that California’s cities, like every other going concern in America, are heading for tough economic times. As recently as two months ago, robust collections of sales taxes, utility taxes, transient occupancy taxes, property taxes and other sources...

How the Homeless Industrial Complex Plans to Destroy Venice Beach

April 22, 2020 2:05 amApril 21, 2020 8:33 pm

You can’t ensure the rule of law when you permit people to wander the streets stoned out of their minds, or sprawled across park benches in a heroin stupor, or drinking and carousing all night long, urinating and defecating everywhere....

Huntington Beach Denies Pandemic Reality, Dispenses Pay Raises

April 15, 2020 2:37 amApril 15, 2020 1:08 pm

According to data straight from CalPERS, Huntington Beach taxpayers in 2019-20 will pay $14.7 million for the “normal cost” of their employee pension benefits. They will pay $29.9 million in catch-up money, aimed at paying down the unfunded liability for...

California’s Economy is in Free Fall: Cities Hike Minimum Wage as Economy Falters

April 9, 2020 2:36 amApril 10, 2020 9:50 am

Until further notice, California’s economy is in free fall. As of April 6, California’s Employment Development Department reported receiving 1.9 million new unemployment insurance claims within barely three weeks. As reported in the San Jose Mercury, during the entire 2008 Great...