The state’s increasingly bifurcated economy involves higher welfare expenditures—California spends a larger share of its budget on welfare than virtually any state, Governor Gavin Newsom’s go-to solution to the state’s embarrassing poverty rate—and growing dependence on the rich for tax revenues. Along with an exodus of middle-class families (mostly due to high housing costs), this stratification undermines California’s demographic future. Not surprisingly, the state now sees below-average birthrates. San Francisco has the lowest share of children of any major U.S. city. Los Angeles County once epitomized energy and creativity as the mecca of youth culture; between 2001 to 2021, L.A.’s over-65 population grew by more than half a million (59 percent), while its under-25 population shrank by nearly 750,000 (down 19 percent).

California cannot continue to ignore its worst-in-the-nation regulatory excess. Any recovery plan will first require a massive shift in the education system. While Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee emphasize skills education, California schools and universities are scrapping exit exams and logging some of the lowest test scores in the U.S. Nearly three in five California high schoolers are not prepared for either college or a career.

[The real question is … do Californians want the state saved? If so, they need to find new leadership. If they can’t muster themselves up to even do THAT much, then the answer is “no.” — Ed]