Dear Friends and Supporters,

As we continue to monitor developments in the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pacific Research Institute is open for business. Working remotely, our team is undertaking long-planned projects while researching and advancing policy solutions to strengthen our state and nation in the wake of the crisis.

This is not the first storm that we’ve weathered—nor will it likely be our last. PRI was founded in 1979, in the midst of an economic recession, and we’ve been through our fair share of crises in the years since—the Cold War, September 11, and the Great Recession, to say nothing of the natural disasters that have tested our state’s resolve. 

PRI has persevered through these crises because of the fundamental importance of our mission, our history of leadership and financial stewardship, and—most importantly—because of supporters like you who have journeyed with us during these ups and downs. 

PRI's mission of freedom, opportunity, and personal responsibility is more critically needed now than at any other time. These are the principles that America will need to get through this crisis and to begin to rebuild on the other side. Yet these principles are also under attack by those who want to exploit the crisis as a way to expand government control. 

Some have used the pandemic to argue for projects like “Medicare for All.” But as PRI’s work makes clear, socialized medicine would make America less able to respond quickly to future epidemics. PRI President and CEO Sally Pipes' new Encounter book on this topic, False Premise, False Promise: The Disastrous Reality of Medicare for All, has sold over 3,500 copies.

Indeed, PRI’s research, publications, and programs in key areas such as health care, the economy, education, and the environment are critically relevant for policymakers and others working to move us out of this crisis. As just one example, many of the innovations in online education that millions of students are now using have long been championed by Lance Izumi, Director of PRI's Center for Education.

Now is not the time to step back from the principles that you and I believe in. PRI is pushing forward on a number of innovative projects that will help to get us through this crisis and emerge as a stronger, safer nation. Together, we can ensure that the principles which built this country and will enable its future flourishing—the principles of freedom, opportunity, and personal responsibility which we’ve championed for years—will be protected and passed on. 

Thank you for your support during these challenging times.

Sincerely, 
Ben Smithwick, Vice President of Development