The California exodus is real

Expect the usual blather from the usual suspects. Lawmakers will remind us that California remains the world's fifth-largest economy and that California's tech industry is booming—as evidenced by an astounding $75.7 billion budget surplus in the midst of the pandemic. Even the budgetary good news, though, hides an ugly truth. Because of our steeply progressive income-tax structure, revenues don't reflect overall wellbeing as much as they spotlight the success at the top of the economic spectrum. Even before COVID-19, California had the highest poverty rates in the nation based on the Census Bureau's cost-of-living-adjusted standard. Last year, 135,000 more Americans left the state than came here. The California exodus is a real phenomenon. If you are a regular reader of these editorial pages, you know about the state's myriad challenges (all of which predate the pandemic): median home prices of more than $750,000 statewide and above $1 million in some metro areas; an exploding homeless crisis; crumbling infrastructure; water shortages; lousy public schools; growing crime rates; and various governmental scandals.