Allysia Finley calls me “The Billionaire Who Made California Unaffordable” (Life Science, Nov. 24), and it’s no surprise she views my gubernatorial campaign as a threat. What is surprising is how badly she misreads the state’s cost-of-living crisis. Ms. Finley writes that while the “poor will always be with California . . . the same isn’t true of businesses.”
Here’s the truth: California is the best state in the country to start and grow a business. That must never change. The reason so many Californians are struggling to afford to stay here is that we’ve coddled powerful interests for too long. To use one example, we’ve let utilities, backed by armies of lobbyists in Sacramento, raise customers’ electricity bills while earning government-guaranteed, double-digit returns. You’d think Ms. Finley, ostensibly dedicated to free enterprise, would be opposed to state-backed monopolies that jack up prices without any competition.
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