I just wanted to follow up and make sure you saw my colleague Lance Christensen’s email below . . . it’s about how you and I can have the greatest impact Taking Back California in 2023 by reining in the power of government unions. 

I travel all over the state forming strategic alliances with fellow Californians who love this state and don’t want to be forced to leave in order for their businesses and families to flourish. NOTHING we can do to reclaim California is more needed than breaking what Lance calls the “axis” between government and union power. 

I encourage you to read Lance’s email below, and also check out CPC’s exciting year-end recap video here.

I hope you’ll join us in these last two days of 2022, so we can start 2023 full steam ahead! 

Thank you, John!

Lauryn Haringa
Director of Strategic Partnerships, CPC

How did California go from being the sunny ideal of American opportunity to a dark cautionary tale of regressive government run amok?

We still have the gorgeous weather, the spectacular natural beauty, a tremendous amount of wealth, and outsized cultural influence. 

But amidst all of this abundance, we also have more people living on the streets and citizens living below the poverty line than any other state. 

We see more power outages than some developing nations, and are asked to simply put up with rolling blackouts and ignore our failing infrastructure. 

Our public schools are both the worst in the nation and the most lavishly funded. 

And after decades of high population growth, we’ve seen two years of demographic decline as many business leaders and families no longer see a way to prosper here in the Golden State. 
 

What happened?

It’s not a mystery. As the forces of “progress” were increasingly drawn to our state’s wealth and power, our culture changed both in the private and public spheres. 

Our state government came to be ruled by a single party that is funded by a host of powerful special interests—the most powerful being government unions that spend extravagant sums of money taken from their members, regardless of these members’ beliefs. 

The axis of government and union power means that you and I pay more and more every year for unaccountable government and declining public services. 
 

It’s time to Take Back California.

You and California Policy Center have collaborated to reduce government union influence and return control of California to the taxpayers and citizens. 

Together, you and CPC and our allies have helped reduce public employee participation in government unions from 100 percent in 2017 (before the landmark Supreme Court Janus decision) to 73 percent today.

This drop in membership costs unions $337 million each year in dues—dues no longer available to be spent on politicians and the radical policies that are sending so many Californians running to other states. 
 

And as CPC president Will Swain wrote a short time ago, we’ve learned that for every $80 we spend reaching out to union members and helping them act upon their constitutional rights, one member will leave the public union. And this takes an average of $1,000 in dues out of union pockets each year!

That means your Year-End, tax-deductible donation of $80 today helps one union member leave, costing the union $1,000!

Your gift of $240 helps to spring three members, costing their unions $3,000!

Your gift of $400 helps five members leave, costing their unions $5,000 . . . 

. . . Every year going forward.

How many members would you like to help CPC reach today? And how much do you want to take out of union coffers today?
 

I thank you for standing with CPC in 2022! I hope you’re enjoying a happy holiday season, and I wish you the best 2023 possible!

Sincerely,

Lance Christensen 
Vice President of Education Policy & Government Affairs
California Policy Center