Policy Produces Rare Coup

Republican in California Earns Endorsements of Every Major Newspaper

In a rare and perhaps unprecedented accomplishment in modern times, a Republican statewide political candidate earned the endorsement of every major newspaper in

California. His name is Lanhee Chen, and he is running for state controller, an elected office that is nearly as powerful as the governor’s because it has various instruments with which to hold government accountable to taxpayers.

Some such instruments are the authority to audit government spending and expose waste by providing taxpayers with accurate and timely financial disclosures. But California’s current controller, Democrat Betty Yee, has been unwilling or unable to hold state agencies accountable. Her office has not produced an annual comprehensive financial report since the statement for the fiscal year ending in June 2020. To put this in perspective, imagine a publicly held company that is two years delinquent in producing its annual 10-K report. Its last report earned modified auditor opinions of “qualified” and “disclaimer of opinion”, meaning there were both material and pervasive misstatements. For public companies, such reporting could deal a death blow, causing a crash in stock price and losing shareholder confidence. Yet this is exactly what’s going on with California’s finances, and the state is unlikely…