The Golden State’s fortunes have turned.
Governor Gavin Newsom already predicted trouble in Sacramento this year, but he had no idea how ugly it would get.
And he started sweating profusely when the federal government revealed what’s been going down in California.
The blue state exodus has been going strong for more than a decade now.
But what was a trickle years ago has turned into a tsunami.
A stunning new report from the Census department has revealed that over the past two years the state of California has lost a jaw dropping 700,000 residents.
That’s the equivalent of losing the entire population of Fresno and Escondido combined.
Experts say the massive net loss in residents is being driven by unfriendly government policies including high taxes and onerous regulations.
California is a mess
This report about the latest census numbers follows news that California will not only ban new vehicles with gasoline engines by 2035, but the state is also banning the installation of new gas-fueled furnaces by 2030.
The situation is so far out of hand that civil rights attorney Leo Terrell told Fox News Gavin Newsom’s policies are “driving middle-class Americans out of their homes.”
But the biggest factor now driving the exodus out of California is a hostile regulatory environment that’s causing businesses to abandon the state with their employees following.
In the first half of 2021 alone the Hoover Institute tallied up a list of more than 70 California-based companies that picked up and moved their headquarters to more business friendly (mostly red) states.
“Interestingly enough, it wasn’t as much on the taxation front as it was on the regulatory front,” Jim Doti, professor of economics and president emeritus of Chapman College told the Epoch Times. “[They said] business regulation is so extreme, it’s very difficult for us to conduct business in a way that can provide the goods and services we produce at an affordable price.”
In addition to an abysmal environment to do business in, California also leads the nation with an income tax rate of 13.3% on top of an 8.84% business tax rate.
Even at those astonishingly high tax rates, the state simply can’t rake in enough cash to satisfy Democrats’ spending sprees.
Earlier this year Newsom predicted a budget deficit of $22.5 billion.
Analysts for the state’s legislative branch recently announced that number is most likely even higher hovering around $27.5 billion.
No doubt the state will continue to sink further in the hole as businesses and families continue to flee the state.
Stay tuned to Blue State Blues for any updates to this ongoing story.
