I'm working off the rumors [0] that California has a massive long term problem which is generally being ignored by successive governments. I don't see how they can sustain an emergency preparedness program if they have that sort of business-as-usual preparedness problem. Step 1 to me is always be prepared for the most-likely future case, then step 2 is prepare for progressively less likely scenarios.

[0] https://www.forbes.com/sites/patrickgleason/2019/04/16/no-ca...

That article was written during a booming stock market, too. CalPERS (the retirement fund in question) projects something like 7-8% stock returns to stay even nominally solvent.

If the market doesn't (pretty much fully) recover within the next six months, the entire CA pension system is going to be catastrophically insolvent.

The sad part is that the pension system is already walking dead. They’re going to need a bailout, it’s only now people are starting to have real conversations about it.

Should the CA tax payer pick up the bill for promises made to state employees that were never expected to be payable? We’ll see how that goes. Either way the tax payer and the pensioners lose.

I’ve always found demonizing one party to be a poor proxy for the real problems in politics.

Screeching about how much the other guys suck is always easier than not sucking.

California voters passed Prop 25 which took away the Republicans ability to hold the budget hostage. That took most of the Republicans remaining power away.

The slow dismantling of Prop 13, which Prop 25 played a part in, has certainly helped a lot. However, Proposition 218 remains largely intact, and California's ballot-box budgeting woes are far from over.

I guess if you get your California economic outlook from Grover Norquist's spokesman, you might get an incomplete picture. May I recommend a second source, such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics or other reputable agency?