Policy Contributions

One of CPIP’s goals is to translate research to policy, so that policymakers are provided with the insights from our research to help improve public policy. CPIP affiliates are encouraged to engage with the media and policymakers.

2025

Andrew Noymer published an op-ed in the Orange County Register titled "Lab Leak in Spain? A Wake-Up Call for Global Biosafety" on December 23, 2025.

Alana M.W. LeBrón co-authored a policy brief that was published in Health Affairs titled “Population Health Costs of Exclusionary and Criminalizing Immigration Policies” on November 6, 2025.

Julian Gerez was interviewed as part of a developing story segment on CNN Live discussing U.S. actions in Columbia and Venezuela on October 21, 2025. 

Andrew Penner and his colleagues wrote, “Immigrants in Europe and North America earn 18% less than natives – here’s why” published in The Conversation on July 16, 2025.

Kelley Fong wrote “Tax Changes in the Federal Budget Bill Are a Disaster for Many American Families” released by The Fulcrum on July 3, 2025.

Jade Jenkins, in her role as Chair of the Board of Directors of Orange County Head Start, met with U.S. Representative Young Kim (District 40) during Kim’s June 2025 visit to a Head Start center in her district, to relay the importance of federal early childhood policy supporting low-income families.

David Neumark consulted with National Bank of Slovakia about new minimum wage policy and minimum wage research, gave a webinar for Public Policy Institute of California on “Are Company Headquarters Leaving California?” on June 24, 2025, a live interview on KCBS San Francisco about research on headquarters leaving California, an interview with actuality.sk (Slovakian newspaper) about minimum wage research and implications for Slovakia, and also lectured on minimum wages in the Hoover Institution Summer Policy Boot Camp at Stanford University. He published an op-ed on “Raising Tipped Minimum Wages Won’t Close Minority and Gender Pay Gap” for the Detroit News, an op-ed on “Raising the Minimum Wage Actually Increases Racial Disparities” in The Hill, and published “Are Company Headquarters Leaving California?” (and Technical Appendix) with Sarah Bohn and Zeyu Li for the Public Policy Institute of California. Bogdan Savych and David Neumark presented research on “Unresolved Conflict in Workers’ Compensation: The Impact of Legal Representation on Workers’ Compensation Benefits” to the Workers Compensation Research Institute in Waltham, MA.

Alein Haro-Ramos and Annie Ro released a policy report on “Older Undocumented Enrollees in My Health LA were Less Likely to be Hospitalized After an ED Visit” through the California Initiative for Health Equity and Action (Cal-IHEA) in May 2025. It is based on their article “Examining Emergency Department Utilization and Hospital Admissions Among Older Undocumented Immigrants: Insights from a Primary Care County Program” in Gerontologist.

Denise Payán was appointed to serve as a policy expert at UC Merced’s Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center (NCPC) to assist them with policy translational activities and providing state and local tobacco policy updates. She gave an interview to Spectrum News 1 regarding a local community garden closure and potential impacts. She produced three webinars through Cal-IHEA and wrote three briefing proceedings: 

Charis Kubrin published a policy brief titled “Rethinking Immigration Enforcement” with the Scholars Strategy Network. She and her colleagues released an amicus brief (Charis E. Kubrin, Jack I. Lerner, Adam Dunbar and Kyle Winnen. May 14, 2025. Amicus Brief on Rap Music for Aubrey Drake Graham v. UMG Recordings Inc., (No. 1:25-cv-399-JAV)). She also spoke on immigration policy and practice to various groups:

  • OCDem PAC. “Immigration and Crime: Is the Narrative Fact or Fiction?” May 27, 2025.
  • Capitol Hill (Dirksen Senate Office Building). Immigration Policy Briefing: “Criminalized by Design: How U.S. Immigration Policy Hurts Families, Not Crime Rates.” May 22, 2025.
  • Regents Point. “Immigration and Crime: Dispelling Myths.” May 8, 2025.
  • Newport Beach Women’s Democratic Club. “Immigration and Crime: Is the Narrative Fact or Fiction?” April 24, 2025.
  • UCI College Dems. “Immigration and Crime: Is the Narrative Fact or Fiction?” April 10, 2025.
  • Democrats of Greater Irvine. “Immigration and Crime: Dispelling Myths.” March 3, 2025.

Brittany Morey wrote a report and gave a webinar on Mental Health and Socioeconomic Impact of COVID-19 on California’s Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders to the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

Keramet Reiter was a featured expert in Michael Montgomery’s “The Strike that Broke a Supermax Prison” in Reveal on March 29, 2025. 

David Agrawal provided expert commentary on "States with the Highest and Lowest Tax Rates" for WalletHub on March 4, 2025. 

Andreas de Barros and colleagues performed a study with the Ministry of Education in Morocco that evaluated the impact of the country's flagship program in public primary schools (the "Pioneer School Program"). The overall program's impact on child learning is larger than any impact ever estimated for a program implemented by a government. The study has received notable coverage over the past year and Prof. de Barros discussed the study in Morocco on a panel with representatives of the Ministry of Education.

Nicholas Marantz testified for the California legislature and portions of his testimony were included in the Final Report of the California Legislature’s Select Committee on Permitting Reform released in March 2025. He was also an author on the report, “Assessing the Potential for Densification and VMT Reduction in Areas Without Rail Transit Access,” released by the UC Office of President’s Institute of Transportation Studies.

David Richardson served on the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR; Vienna, Austria, 2025), as lead coordination writer through to UNSCEAR approval of its report on Epidemiological Studies of Radiation and Cancer. He presented to the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (Washington DC, 2025) on recent epidemiological studies of low dose radiation exposures, as part of a meeting on Executive Order 14300 and directives affecting the radiation protection framework. He also served the US National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, (Washington DC, 2025) as a member of its Committee to Conduct a Feasibility Assessment of Veteran Health Effects of Manhattan Project (1942-1947) Related Waste.

Jeffrey Swindle published “‘Bukelismo’: A Deceptive, Illiberal Model of Peace Spreads from El Salvador to the United States” in ReVista: Harvard Review of Latin America on February 20, 2025.

Heike Theil de Bocanegra presented on Afghan and Arab Refugee Reproductive Health Literacy Experiences in California to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. 

 

2024

Wang Feng contributed to several op-eds:

Amanda Geller gave an expert contribution on “What Defines Youth?” to the LA County Division of Youth Development that was then published. She also presented at the Scholars Strategy Network’s California Issues Forum on Youth Development and Criminal Justice, held on Oct. 24, 2024.

David Neumark, “Help Really Wanted? The Impact of Age Stereotypes in Job Ads.” Hoover Institution, June 21, 2024.

Suellen Hopfer. "The true cost of vaccine misinformation: A vulnerable nation," The Orange County Register. April 23, 2024.

Charis E. Kubrin and Sarah Shannon, “Opinion: Laken Riley’s killing does reflect a broader danger. But it isn’t ‘immigrant crime’,” LA Times, April 1, 2024.

David Neumark, “California's Crazy 'Fast Food' Minimum Wage Takes Effect.” Wall Street Journal, March 31, 2024.

Brittany Morey, “Democratizing Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Data: Examining Community Accessibility of Data for Health and the Social Drivers of Health,” American Journal of Public Health, January 11, 2024.

2023

Charis Kubrin and Bradley Bartos, “Decarceration and Crime Do Not Go Hand in Hand.” Scientific American. September 14, 2023.

Greg Duncan, “Reducing Intergenerational Poverty,” National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, September 2023.

David Neumark. "Higher Minimum Wages and Mixed Effects on Health," VoxEU. June 2023

David Neumark. Briefing for California Manufacturers and Technology Association on research on California job creation policies and California Competes Tax Credit, Sacramento, CA. May 2023

David Neumark. Briefing for California Business Roundtable on research on California job creation policies and California Competes Tax Credit, Sacramento, CA. May 2023

David Neumark. Briefing for California State Chamber of Commerce on research on California job creation policies and California Competes Tax Credit, Sacramento, CA. May 2023

Keramet Reiter. “Is the Sun Setting on Solitary Confinement?” OnlySky, March 8, 2023 

Keramet Reiter. Participant in and Signatory on: Physicians for Human Rights & Antigone, International Guiding Statement on Alternatives to Solitary Confinement. May 2023. 

Keramet Reiter and K. Tinto. “Creating a prison to university pipeline,” The Daily Journal. February 16, 2023

Wang Feng. “The Alternative, Optimistic Story of Population Decline,” The New York Times. January 30, 2023

Wang Feng. “Why China’s shrinking population is a big deal – counting the social, economic and political costs of an aging, smaller society,” The Conversation. January 18, 2023

 

2022

Charis Kubrin, Expert witness, United States Department of Justice Executive Office for Immigration Review in the matter of Rouben Dossous. December 22, 2022.

Andrew Lover and Andrew Noymer. “Can Baby Boomers quit fearing monkeypox if they were vaccinated against smallpox as kids?” Tampa Bay Times. September 1, 2022

Andrew Noymer. “Four things I want to know about the origin of COVID.” Washington Examiner. August 22, 2022.

David Neumark. “The Least Effective Minimum-Wage Hike.” Wall Street Journal. August 15, 2022

Candice L. Odgers, N.B. Allen, J.H. Pfeifer, R.E. Dahl, J. Nesi, Stephen M. Schueller, J.L, Williams, and the National Scientific Council on Adolescence. Engaging, safe, and evidence-based: What science tells us about how to promote positive development and decrease risk in online spaces for early adolescents, Council Report No 2. 2022. doi: 10.31234/osf.io/rvn8q.