
Experts claim that California lawmakers and policymakers are running the state into the ground due to inaccurate and deceptive publicly collected data.
Homelessness, the COVID-19 epidemic, and criminality are just a few of the significant problems that the state has been downplaying by utilizing inaccurate and inadequate statistics. It can take up to six weeks for burglaries and non-violent crimes in Oakland to show up in the crime statistics, creating the illusion of lower crime rates. There is an alarming lack of reporting for over half of San Francisco’s crimes, and the state of California has seen a 26.4% increase in violent crime between 2014 and 2022.
The demand for and supply of behavioral health services in the state is limited and of mixed quality.
In addition to a 121% increase in fentanyl overdose deaths from 2019 to 2021, 4,767 psychiatric beds were unavailable in California for those suffering from mental health issues.
The state of California’s mental and behavioral health systems will be strengthened with the allocation of $6.8 billion to various organizations in May. These entities include counties, cities, tribal entities, NGOs, and for-profits. Counties, organizations, and towns in California have received substantial funding from homelessness initiatives, but they have frequently failed to retain adequate records of data that is pertinent to their work.
At 28% of the national total, California’s homeless population is a significant cause for concern. It is impossible to determine if funds are going toward direct efforts to end homelessness because the number of homeless people in the state rose by 10,000 from 2021 to 2022.
Due to a shortage of outcome data from participating groups, the state of California has no idea how well three of its $24 billion housing and homelessness initiatives performed over the previous five fiscal years. Without any information about the resident’s habits, developers claim to have succeeded in their fight against homelessness by providing shelter.
Similarly, California’s lockdown policies during the COVID-19 epidemic were based on false data. The state’s statistics used to justify lockdowns lacked age-specific demographic information on mortality. Because of this, tax income in California plummeted, falling by a whopping $47 billion between 2020 and 2021. Estimates put the state’s budget shortfall for fiscal year 2024 at $73 billion, with an additional $24 billion in lost tax income owing to out-of-state residents.
California’s financial declarations about state expenditures are infamously delayed for reporting to the federal government. The state’s financial filings are notoriously late, with the most current report dating back to 2022.
An audit conducted by the state in 2022 found that the state’s credit grade might be at risk if the delays continue.