Even UC Berkeley Says California's Cost of Living Crisis Is Self-Inflicted

Media
4 hours ago
2 min read

When UC Berkeley publishes a report saying California is unaffordable because of its own policy failures, it's time for Sacramento to stop pointing fingers and start looking in the mirror.

A new report from UC Berkeley researchers finds that California has the highest cost-of-living-adjusted poverty rate in the entire country.

The researchers found that California is "systematically more expensive than other places with similar median incomes." High costs here can't be explained away by high incomes. The biggest driver? A housing shortage created by decades of Sacramento regulation that made it nearly impossible to build.

And it's not just housing anymore.

California's utility costs are 60% above the national average. Only Hawaii pays more. PG&E bills have nearly doubled since 2019, jumping from under $170 to nearly $300 a month. Car insurance premiums have climbed more than a third in just two years. Gas is hovering near $5 a gallon while the rest of the country pays far less.

The result? People are leaving. Since 2020, California has had the second-worst net migration rate in the nation. Families are packing up for Arizona, Texas, Idaho, and Nevada because they simply can't afford to stay. Not just wealthy people dodging taxes. Working families. Young people who will never be able to buy a home here. Seniors on fixed incomes getting squeezed out of the communities they spent their lives building.

California's top billionaires are leaving too. The Google co-founders moved to Florida. So did Peter Thiel. Travis Kalanick went to Texas. Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly close behind. When the people creating the wealth leave, who exactly is going to pay for all the spending Sacramento refuses to cut?

Sacramento politicians want to blame Washington. They want to blame the economy. They want to blame anyone except themselves.

But UC Berkeley just told them the truth: "State policies have played a major role in driving unaffordability."

Here in North County, we've taken a different approach. We've fought for housing affordability by streamlining permitting and cutting red tape. We've kept our county budget balanced without accounting gimmicks. We've invested in behavioral health infrastructure, fire preparedness, and public safety while maintaining fiscal discipline. That's how government is supposed to work.

Sacramento should try it.

The cost of living crisis crushing California families wasn't caused by forces beyond anyone's control. It was caused by policy choices. Bad ones. Made by politicians in Sacramento who spent too much, regulated too tightly, and blocked the housing construction that could have kept this state affordable.

North County families deserve better. And I'll keep fighting to make sure your county government stays on the right side of that equation.