We expose waste, fraud, and abuse in California on the state and local level.

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Transparency.

Accountability.

Shedding light on government waste, fraud, and abuse.

That’s what Sunshine Week is all about.

Sunshine Week is a nonpartisan collaboration among groups in the journalism, civic, education, government, and private sectors that demonstrates the importance of public records laws and open government. Here at Independent Institute, we couldn’t be prouder to embody the spirit of Sunshine Week through our California Golden Fleece® Awards (CGFA) ([link removed]) .

The California Golden Fleece® Awards are a series of in-depth reports from the Independent Institute that expose waste, fraud, and abuse in California on the state or local level. To receive this ignoble designation, a program, agency, policy, tax, or regulation must violate common-sense principles of responsible government, be considered wasteful by people of differing political views, and must be well documented.
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Independent Institute President Graham H. Walker ([link removed]) discusses our CGFA program with Dr. Lawrence J. McQuillan ([link removed]) , CGFA’s Founder and Director; Adam B. Summers ([link removed]) , Research Fellow; and Jonathan Hofer ([link removed]) , Research Associate. Each report sheds light on critical issues affecting all Californians, including wildfires, housing, water resources, the Department of Motor Vehicles, government technology, smash-and-grab crimes, automated license plate readers (ALPRs), and more…
Watch the Discussion ([link removed])
WILDFIRES
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Our team has written two reports on California’s wildfires. The first ([link removed]) , written in 2017, calls out Cal Fire for favoring expensive and inefficient fire management strategies that not only increase its budget, but also put people and property at greater fire risk. The second ([link removed]) , written in 2019, offered 26 key recommendations to improve wildfire safety.
Read the First Cal Fire Report ([link removed])
Read the Second Cal Fire Report ([link removed])
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
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Housing remains a critical issue for Californians. Despite much hand-wringing and pronouncements by politicians to “fix the problem,” state and local governments have made the problem worse, especially for lower-income residents. This report focuses on removing obstacles to fast and affordable housing development (an initiative that has become even more pressing because of California’s devastating wildfires).
Read the Housing Report ([link removed])
AUTOMATED LICENSE PLATE READERS (ALPRs)
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Automated license plate readers (ALPRs) gather information from passing cars faster than police officers can visually confirm license plates. These high-speed cameras can rapidly scan numerous computer-readable images, eliminating the need for law enforcement personnel to do manual checks. However, the few ALPR laws on the books are often ignored or are not comprehensive enough to prevent misuse. Now out in the wild, ALPRs represent a significant risk to civil liberties. That’s why our team awarded the thirteenth California Golden Fleece® Award ([link removed]) to all agencies that have adopted this technology without proper safeguards.
Read the ALPR Report ([link removed])
Learn More about California Golden Fleece® Awards ([link removed])

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