- State & Local
- California
- Economics
- Law & Policy
- Answering Challenges to Advanced Economies
- Empowering State and Local Governance
California is one of 24 states that allow voters to decide whether initiatives and referenda can become law – i.e., direct democracy. But what does California’s slate of 14 initiatives on the November ballot – including a “wealth tax” on billionaires, new voter-ID requirements, plus proposed changes to the recall of elected officials – say about the Golden State’s priorities, special interests’ influence, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s presidential ambitions? In the first of a series of conversations about the practice of politics and policies in America’s most populous state, Hoover fellow Lanhee Chen, a keen observer of California’s policy landscape and a past candidate for statewide office, offers a snapshot of this year’s ballot slate, how California’s wealth-tax fight factors into national politics (not to mention the near-term future of California’s tech sector), and suggests a few reforms that would re-instill the public’s confidence in the initiative process.
Recorded on June 26, 2026.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Lanhee Chen is the Hoover Institution’s David and Diane Steffy Fellow in American Public Policy Studies, co-chair of Hoover’s Healthcare Policy Working Group and a noted political analyst.
In addition to serving as a presidential campaign advisor, Chen in 2022 was a candidate for California state controller, receiving the most votes of any Republican in the election cycle.
Bill Whalen is the Virginia Hobbs Carpenter Distinguished Policy Fellow in Journalism at the Hoover Institution. In addition to serving as the moderator of Goodfellows, he also hosts Hoover’s Matters of Policy & Politics podcast, which spotlights the work of Hoover fellows. Whalen writes and comments on campaigns, elections and governance, with an emphasis of California and America’s political landscapes, and contributes to Hoover’s California on Your Mind and Defining Ideas web channels.
ABOUT THE SERIES
Matters of Policy & Politics, a podcast from the Hoover Institution, examines the direction of federal, state, and local leadership and elections, with an occasional examination of national security and geopolitical concerns, all featuring insightful analysis provided by Hoover Institution scholars and guests.
