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It didn’t take Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) long to start turning Virginia into California. And by “California,” I don’t mean the fantastic weather.
No, Spanberger is turning Virginia into the “Golden State” by implementing policies that will likely be a buzzkill for businesses. At least one major player has announced that it is relocating. But it’s a big one: Boeing.
The problem is that Spanberger ran as a female version of John Fetterman, the centrist senator to the north in Pennsylvania. But since she was sworn in on Jan. 17, she has been governing as Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA).
The list of companies that have left California because of the policies enacted by Newsom and other major politicians, such as Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, is long. It includes companies such as Bed Bath & Beyond, which said last year that its return to brick-and-mortar retail will bypass Newsom’s California, as well as Chevron and Palantir Technologies, which have relocated their headquarters to other states.
The complaints range from high corporate and income taxes, the draconian regulatory maze, and the high cost of living. Leftist policies have turned California Dreamin’ into the California nightmare.
The California corporate exodus, along with that of people, has been a long-running story that is sure to play out starting next year when, as everyone expects, Newsom rolls out his campaign to run for president in 2028. The only candidates who would avoid criticizing his policies are those few to his left, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), if she runs.
Newsom seems aware of the problem. He is now mounting a rear-guard objection to a proposed wealth tax that is gathering signatures to be added as a Billionaire Tax Act ballot initiative to this year’s election in November. The measure would impose a one-time 5% tax on individuals worth over $1 billion.
That would be $50 million per billion of a California resident’s net worth. For Palo Alto resident Mark Zuckerberg, whose net worth amounts to $224.8 billion, that would be a cool $11.25 billion.
For Stephen Spielberg, with a net worth $7.1 billion, that would mean a one-time hit of $355 million. That’s why he has already relocated out of Pacific Palisades and is, as of Jan. 1, a resident of New York City. The day is significant. If voters approve the Billionaire Tax Act, it would retroactively hit anyone who was a resident of California as of Jan. 1.
His production company, Amblin Entertainment, also opened an office in New York City on Jan. 1.
But with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani threatening residents of the Big Apple with a 9.5% property tax increase, one has to wonder whether Spielberg and his wife, Kate Capshaw, may have to relocate again.
Whatever one thinks of people such as Zuckerberg and Spielberg having so much money — and one should think nothing of it because it doesn’t affect anyone how much money another person has — the only word to describe begrudging other people their wealth is envy. It is evident that the escape of such fortunes will affect the residents of a state because it diminishes the tax base.
No wonder that Newsom calls the initiative “really damaging” and says “it makes no sense.” But he’s facing opposition from leftists such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), coming to California to grandstand for the initiative. The initiative is also backed by the Service Employees International Union, one of the country’s most militant unions.
But Newsom’s previous policies have already taken a bite. In Chevron’s case, it had to relocate its headquarters from San Ramon, California, to Houston. The move was completed last year, and it is worth remembering that Chevron had deep roots in the once Golden State, where it had its headquarters for 145 years — pretty much since the invention of the car.
Chevron CEO Mike Wirth did not mince words when he told the Wall Street Journal that “we believe California has a number of policies that raise costs, that hurt consumers, that discourage investment, and ultimately, we think that’s not good for the economy in California and for consumers.”
Palantir Technologies, a government contractor co-founded by billionaire Peter Thiel, left California for Denver in 2020. It didn’t find the Colorado capital appetizing either, so on Feb. 17, it announced on X that it had relocated its headquarters once again, this time to Miami, the jewel in the low-tax, low-regulation regime that Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) runs.
The post said simply, “We have moved our headquarters to Miami, Florida.” It caught Gov. Jared Polis (D-CO) unaware. “I was not notified,” Polis fumed. Some 600 people are said to work at the Palantir headquarters, not an insignificant number.
Palantir was hit with protests because it is a federal contractor that supplies surveillance technology to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which, according to a Wired magazine story, paid Palantir $30 million to provide “‘near real-time visibility’ on people self-deporting from the United States.”
Never mind that Palantir does more than half of its business with the rest of the globe. Now, these 600 people, or newly hired locals, may be working out of Biscayne Boulevard and paying taxes in Aventura, Florida, which is actually around 30 miles north of Miami.
Realtor.com, an internet-listings company known for its ubiquitous commercials with country singer Reba McEntire, also relocated a year ago from Santa Clara, California, to Austin, the capital of the equally low-tax and regulation state of Texas. Yahoo Finance said that “alarm bells sounded in Silicon Valley as it lost another high-profile tech business to the Lone Star state.”
Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) couldn’t help rubbing salt in the wound.
“Thanks to our unmatched business environment, no corporate or personal income taxes, and our highly skilled, young, and diverse workforce, Texas is the right place for Realtor.com,” he said. “Companies such as Realtor.com found a home where they have the freedom to grow their business and better serve their employees and customers.”
Even Playboy Enterprises — Playboy! — fled California for Miami Beach six months ago. CEO Ben Kohn was equally straightforward when he described Newsom’s California as “anti-business” and an “extremely expensive place.”
“When you look at the cost of doing business in California against the cost of doing business in Florida, and you combine that with the energy of Miami Beach, it made all the sense in the world for Playboy to move there.”
These are just a few, and there are many others, including Public Storage, which moved its corporate headquarters from Glendale, California, to Frisco, Texas. D-Wave Quantum Inc. left Palo Alto, relocating its headquarters to Boca Raton, Florida. And haircare products giant John Paul Mitchell Systems, which moved its headquarters from Los Angeles to Wilmer, Texas, etc.
So, Spanberger has a way to go before matching Newsom’s impressive record in repelling corporations. But the loss of a top defense contractor such as Boeing, which is moving its Defense, Space & Security headquarters from Arlington, Virginia, just across the river from Washington, and back to St. Louis so soon on the inauguration’s heels, does not augur well for the Old Dominion.
Boeing said this showed the company’s “commitment to being present and engaged with teammates who are designing, producing and delivering vital defense and space products and capabilities for customers in the U.S. and around the world.” And it is hard to discount that this may have played a role.
But the announcement came after Spanberger took several high-profile decisions on the day she took over, or soon after, including rescinding an executive order by her predecessor, Glenn Youngkin, that had improved the commonwealth’s collaboration with ICE, as well as moves to keep DEI out of Virginia institutions.
A SNOWBALL’S CHANCE OF DECENCY IN NEW YORK CITY
Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX) was one of many who noticed the comparison with Newsom’s predicament, saying that in “less than a month in office as governor of Virginia, Abigail Spanberger has shown a commitment to turning the commonwealth into California.”
Spanberger hasn’t signaled any national political aspirations. And if things continue as they have since she took office, she may be spared the stress of running for national office.
