California

Report: High Taxes and Burdensome Regulations Are Killing California

California politicians’ policy choices are making the state unaffordable and unattractive.

J.D. Tuccille | 4.20.2026 7:00 AM

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California's proposed "billionaire tax" is keeping the state in the news these days, as are government policies that hike the price of gasoline in the Golden State to ridiculous heights. The propensity for ever-higher taxes and always tighter regulations in California is now a defining characteristic of the place and it has consequences. Those consequences can be measured in terms of lost jobs and a sluggish economy.

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California's Lagging Economy

"California's economic performance has fallen sharply behind the rest of the nation, with job growth since the COVID-19 pandemic at less than half the national rate, while the state's high cost of living is erasing its income advantage," according to a Pacific Research Institute (PRI) summary of a new report by the think tank's Wayne Winegarden and Kerry Jackson.

Specifically, finds the report, "California's share of the national economy has fallen precipitously from its 2021 peak and is now stagnant at around 13.8 percent. Had the state simply maintained its 2021 peak share, California's economy would be 4.6 percent larger today—the equivalent of an additional $14,000 for every household."

An Exodus of People and Businesses

Even before PRI started crunching the numbers, Americans........

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