2021 in review: CA’n fiscal abuse siphons Bay Area’s residents, tourists, businesses
The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association published their yearly “Follow the Money” report, which catalogues state mismanagement of taxpayer money. 2021’s report details key examples of corrupt bureaucratic spending, all closely intertwined with statewide exoduses (that are disproportionately observed in the SF Bay Area, representing 42.9% of CA’n population loss last year). If local leaders continue sidestepping consequences of financial fraud and waste, can further disaster be averted?
This last year California once again ranked worst in the nation to do business, according to an annual report by CEO Magazine, and numerous examples of waste, fraud and abuse totalling billions of taxpayers dollars down the drain were reported by independent investigations. However, none of that is actually new. For years, Sacramento has tied up small business owners in red tape and wasted the people’s hard-earned tax dollars without much in the way of political repercussions.
Perhaps it is exactly this lack of consequence for their mismanagement that has made the political class believe they can continue to abuse the public trust forever without jeopardizing their position of power.
However, this last year brought signs that people may no longer be willing to look the other way just because the weather is pleasant. For the first time ever, Silicon Valley, long one of California’s biggest economic engines, saw its share of venture capital investment nationally fall below 20 percent.
Meanwhile, tourism, long a California strength, continued to suffer in 2021 despite a $95 million marketing blitz by the Newsom administration. California tourism in 2021, while up from 2020, still lagged far below its 2019 performance, with many travelers opting to go instead to Florida, which made major gains.
California’s ongoing exodus of jobs and productive citizens also resulted in the state’s first-ever loss of a Congressional seat, indicating the state’s political power in Washington may be on the decline if the policies driving this exodus remain unaddressed.
This report originally appeared in the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association. Read the whole thing here.
This article is part of an exclusive Opp Now series on California’s outmigration crisis:
SVBJ reporters Mark Calvey and Allison Levitsky dissect why companies are leaving the Bay Area, and how to slow the exodus.
Political commentator Joel Fox says Gov. Gavin Newsom must address the “tidal wave” of Californians moving to Texas for tax, business, and legal benefits, by correcting flawed legislation.
The PRI’s Kerry Jackson explains how the Silicon Valley has become a challenging place to do business.
Scan the high points of CPC’s “Book of Exoduses” from CA, including that $1 trillion-valued Tesla’s headquarters transferred to Texas, along with data center firm Digital Realty Trust and myriad other organizations.
Brandon Ristoff from CPC purports that “The Exodus” began plaguing our state long before COVID-19 did—due to residents’ taxes and housing expenses.
Lee E. Ohanian traces recent mass business departures to California’s imprudent economic policies.
Adam Ozimek and Connor O’Brien’s Economic Innovation Group report discusses how local family outmigration has reached historic highs.
Front Page Magazine’s Larry Sand discusses the Golden State exoduses en masse.
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