Tiny Exodus, Giant Raises, Hidden Hazards

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The Michelin guide has bestowed its 2025 stars, and California — shocker! — has earned its share of celestial marks. On that happy note, here’s your seven-course California news tasting menu: We kick off with the Public Policy Institute of California’s hot new report on the “California Exodus™” which helps separate fact and fiction about the East Coast media’s favorite non-Trump topic. Also, Orange County’s ‘fiscally frugal’ supes hand themselves royal raises, wildfire-spared homes turn out to be chemical slow cookers, and Bay Area transit snags a last-minute lifeline. Top it with a bite-sized CA tax podcast, a gravity-defying roadside relic, and five rapid-fire headlines designed to keep you in the know as you roll into the June’s final weekend.

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Onward!

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CALEXIT: ALL HYPE?

High-profile corporate exits from California make great clickbait, but the broader picture is more of a slow drip than a hemorrhage, according to an illuminating new PPIC study.  Between 2011 and 2021, just 789 headquarters — 1.9% of California’s 47,000 — relocated, trimming 3.7% of HQ jobs while leaving most branch offices and paychecks behind. Yes, departures crept from 150 to 200 a year and inbound moves slid, yet churn inside the state dwarfed outward flight: 7,250 HQs launched and 12,700 closed without crossing the border. Firms that do leave chase lighter tax and regulatory loads in Texas, Nevada, and Florida, but they sacrifice the talent density, innovation networks, and quality-of-life perks that still anchor the majority here. So, the sky isn’t falling — but complacency is a luxury California can ill afford. Death by a thousand cuts might seem better than death by a single blow, but the result is the same. From our vantage point, we need to be doing everything possible to keep the talent magnet strong, slash needless red tape and crush our housing crisis.

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<READ THE REPORT>

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🤫 Everything you should know

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🤑 🤑 🤑- OC SUPES COURT FATTER PAYCHECKS — Orange County has long been characterized as a bastion of moderation and sober fiscal decisionmaking amid California’s sea of profligacy, but a recent board of supervisors meeting might raise an eyebrow or two. Five supervisors just gave themselves a sterling performance review, voting 4-1 to lash their pay to Superior Court judges, juicing their pay by 25% to $244K — two grand richer than the governor and double the county’s median household take-home. The bump lands in October and climbs automatically with every judicial raise. At the same meeting, they slipped interim-now-official CEO Michelle Aguirre a tidy $50K nudge to $460K, minutes after scolding departments to trim fat from a $10 billion budget. Said supervisor Don Wagner: “This is an item that’s time has come.” — OC Register

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☠️ 🔥 😣 - THE TOXIC HOMES OF LA — For those California residents whose homes miraculously survived a catastrophic firestorm, the trauma and turmoil is far from over. A fascinating NY Times report and visual breakdown picks through the toxic legacy of the Altadena fire, as families whose houses escaped the flames discover invisible poisons — formaldehyde, benzene, cyanide and lead, among others — baked into walls, couches, even toddlers’ dresses. Insurers test for soot, shrug, and prescribe a mop, sticking homeowners with six-figure cleanup tabs or a roulette of headaches, rashes, and rising cancer risks. For many, their initial relief soon evolves into a grim wish that the flames had finished the job.— NY Times

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🚉 💰 🛟 - BAY AREA TRANSIT RESCUE — The Bay Area Council scored a crucial win for public transit this week as Governor Gavin Newsom and the State Legislature announced a budget agreement that included $750 million to keep Bay Area trains and buses running as the region works toward a long-term funding solution. The budget agreement also reversed $1.1 billion in proposed transit capital funding cuts, which are necessary for the ongoing work to modernize the state’s public transit system. The Council had been at the forefront of the advocacy effort in Sacramento to secure additional operating support to ensure that BART, Muni, AC Transit and Caltrain would not have to scale back service in the coming months. — Bay Area Council

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🎙️ 💬 🎧 - ON THE POD: CALIFORNIA MINUTE

Short on time, long on tax insight. Spidell’s California Minute squeezes Sacramento’s latest fiscal twists into bite-size, 3-6-minute weekly hits. Veteran pros decode new rules, flag agency quirks, and hand you actionable moves before you even thought to ask. It’s the fastest way to stay compliant — and look downright clairvoyant to anyone to whom you’re talking tax. — California Minute

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😵‍💫 🌲 🚂 - ROADSIDE ATTRACTION

Since 1949, Piercy’s Confusion Hill has delighted road-weary travelers with a wonky “gravity house” that warps perspective and a 1.5-mile switchback narrow-gauge train clinging to a redwood hillside. US-101 once funneled endless traffic past the oddity, but a 2009 realignment dodged chronic mudslides — and the attraction. Sacramento redeemed the snub in 2010 with historical-site status, keeping its quirky spirit alive. If you’re headed up the coast, stop in and check it out. — Confusion Hill

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🏃‍♂️ 💨 ✋ FAST FIVE

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1. 👶 Rep. Robert Garcia (CA-42) picked to lead Dems on House Oversight Committee. WaPo
2. 🪓 Trump admin opens new logging, roads on 59M acres of protected forest. Desert Sun
3. 🏠 CA Dems wage internal war over Newsom’s late push to build more housing . POLITICO
4. 🏥 UCSF to lay off 200 workers amid “serious financial challenges.” SF Chronicle

🧑‍🍳 For the first time, two LA restaurants nab three Michelin stars. LAist