California is losing its grip on the business industry due to high taxes and regulations, forcing many companies to leave the state in droves. Most of them seem to be headed to Texas or Florida, where living costs and tax burdens aren’t as suffocating. Tesla had been the last car company still manufacturing cars in California before making the announcement that they would be moving their headquarters to Austin, Texas.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk even suggested in a recent tweet that another reason he moved the company was because of Democratic assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez who tweeted, “F*** Elon Musk” back in 2020. While Tesla would continue to expand in California, Musk told shareholders that “affordability, space, and convenience” were some of the other reasons Tesla would move. He’d even responded to an article titled, “Tesla Moved its HQ to Texas Following Explicit Offer from California Assemblywoman,” saying, “Exactly” and pointed out that SpaceX is the last aerospace company still doing significant manufacturing in California.
Tesla also plans to increase the output from its main California factory and Nevada factory by 50%, adding that the Fremont, California factory is nonetheless “jammed.” Musk said it is tough for people to even afford houses in California and that he needs to focus on the Tesla headquarters and all future programs.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Musk shared that COVID-19 restrictions shutting down his Fremont plant were considered “fascist.” Assemblywoman Gonzalez pushed back that California has “highly subsidized” a company that has continued to disregard worker safety and well-being. She even accused the company of engaging in union-busting and bullying public servants, adding that she probably could’ve expressed her frustration in a “less aggressive” way but that no one would’ve cared.
Gonzalez emphasizes how California’s communities have been hit the hardest by deaths from COVID-19 and that’s why she takes the public health official warnings and direction “so seriously.” Musk responded on May 10 that the message had been received.
California officials have also been at war with Elon Musk and his companies after denying them a request for $655,500 in worker training subsidies for SpaceX. The Teamster union had asked officials to reject the Space X request, citing that they are “not deserving” of taxpayers’ dollars or should be using government subsidies to grow his business while fighting the state’s COVID-19 restrictions.
The union request influencing the design of California officials has led many to wonder how the state will sustain its tax base. The remaining taxpayers will just end up paying even higher rates to sustain the liberal spending and government pet projects while other companies will be forced out. California continues to have a negative growth rate with more people moving out than in. It is a trend expected in any Democrat-run state and occurring in New York at the moment too.
Musk shared that he would be moving his headquarters from Silicon Valley’s Palo Alto, California to Austin, Texas. He will be building a massive manufacturing complex and joining the ranks of Oracle, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and Toyota Motor, who have also moved to Texas from California. They have also cited relatively high tax rates and living costs as the reason for leaving. While California can still be seen as the “hive mind” for innovation and new ideas, Texas has cheaper labor costs and fewer regulations.
More people are leaving California for Texas over their harsh regulations and taxes. There used to be over a dozen car plants in California and the last one just left. That should be a good point to make when it comes to Dem leadership.
