Democrat Leaders who do not believe Californians are fleeing the Golden State in droves need to look no farther than Sacramento, the seat of California’s state government. A recent Sacramento Bee article cites a reverse migration to the Mid-west. This marks a stunning reversal of the historical trend of migration into California—especially during the Dust Bowl that sent hundreds of thousands of Midwesterners west toward the Golden State.
During the Dust Bowl, people left states like Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma because a drought left the once fertile soil barren and bone-dry. The livelihoods of the farmers shriveled with the crops, and families found themselves in destitution. They sought the greener pastures of California. But where the Dust Bowl of the Great Depression sent a massive migration of Midwesterners to California, the current economic hardship is now driving residents back to the Midwest.
In fact, between 2004 and 2007, California lost 275,000 residents to the former Dust Bowl states that were once responsible for the state’s huge population growth. While California was once seen as the place of hope for a better life, Californians are now looking elsewhere for opportunity. They are fleeing the high taxes, rising unemployment, and intractable bureaucracy that stifles creativity and businesses.
People are leaving the Golden State for the reasons Republicans have cited for years: high taxes, unreasonable regulation, few job opportunities, and an anemic economy. While the Dust Bowl was caused by drought, California suffers from a very man-made disaster made at the governmental level, where the state bureaucracy has grown to a size that smothers private enterprise and small business. With the stranglehold that powerful union interests have on the liberal-dominated Legislature, it seems unlikely that these policies will be discontinued anytime soon.
Leaders cannot assume warm weather and nice beaches will be enough to keep entrepreneurs and taxpayers from fleeing the state. We need systematic government reform and policies designed to create jobs and grow the economy, which generates revenue for government services.
California does not exist in a bubble. Its policies affect the behavior and choices of its residents. High taxes and few job opportunities give productive citizens incentive to leave the state, taking their skills and tax dollars with them. Growing Midwestern states like Oklahoma attract such talent with lower taxes, low cost of living, and a business friendly environment that encourages job growth.
Let us hope that leaders in Sacramento will one day understand this, and begin to rollback the anti-growth laws and bureaucracy it has built over the years. If not, wealth and talent will continue to head east.