Data continue to demonstrate that many Californians are growing weary of their state’s highly regulated, fiscally confiscatory, infamously left-wing governance. As the libertarian Cato Institute noted in its most recent “Freedom In The 50 States” rankings:
Despite Proposition 13, California is one of the highest-taxed states in the country. California’s combined state and local tax collections were 10.8 percent of adjusted personal income. …Local taxes are about average nationally, while state taxes are well above average. …
Regulatory policy is even more of a problem for the state than fiscal policy. California is one of the worst states on land-use freedom. Some cities have rent control, new housing supply is tightly restricted in the coastal areas despite high demand, and eminent domain reform has been nugatory. The state even mandates speech protections in privately owned shopping malls. Labor law is anti-employment …
One locale where Californians seem to be relocating en masse is the rapidly growing Las Vegas suburb of Henderson, Nevada. As the Journal notes, Henderson’s population increased 20% over the past decade to more than 300,000 — which now makes it Nevada’s second most populous city, surpassing Reno. Incredibly, according to Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles data as reported by the Journal, a whopping 56% of Henderson’s explosive growth between 2013 and 2017 came in the form of California exiles.- READ MORE