California Policy Center

When the one-time money ran out, the city changed neither what it does nor how it does it.

“We cannot make payroll next week.”

That’s what Ana Cortez, Hollister’s city manager, told her council on October 2. A few days earlier, the city’s general fund bank account was down to $178. To make the October 6 payroll, the council declared a financial emergency and bor...

Last week, the California Department of Education released CAASPP (state standardized test) results for the 2025-26 school year. While Governor Newsom says the scores are evidence of “continued progress,” the numbers tell a different story.

In a continuation of California’s chronically poor academic performance, just under half (49.3 percent) of California public schoo...

With local tax and bond measures on the ballot across California, voters can use California Policy Center’s Local Fiscal Health Dashboard to examine the financial condition of the local governments asking them for more money.

CPC has updated the ...

Much of the unrest in the United States stems from unaffordability. Across every political contest from California to the East Coast, the affordability playbook is the same: “the cost of living is too high, and the opposition party is to blame.” The first part of this message ought to be beyond serious debate. The cost of housing, the biggest single expense most families face...

Inspired by the federal DOGE initiative, many state- and locally-focused groups started their own attempts to promote a more efficient government. In February 2025, Carl DeMaio’s Reform California announced a DOGE-inspired effort to audit the state’s spending.

The idea predates DOGE. In his 2021 campaign for New York City mayor, Eric Adams promised that “we will mandat...