During the COVID-19 pandemic, the California Employment Development Department (EDD) experienced massive unemployment insurance fraud, with estimates ranging from $20 billion (official state figure) to $32.6 billion (cited in federal reports, congressional inquiries, and expert analyses like LexisNexis). This stemmed from relaxed verification rules to expedite payments, leading to claims paid to inmates, deceased individuals, and international criminals.
A 2024 state audit revealed California spent $24 billion on homelessness programs over five years (2018–2023), but lacked consistent tracking of outcomes or effectiveness, resulting in poor accountability despite persistent high homelessness rates. Recent federal investigations have uncovered some fraud, including cases where developers misused tens of millions in housing funds while exceeding 187,000 people in recent counts, a rate of increase around 3% in 2024.
The California High-Speed Rail project, launched in 2008, has cost over $18 billion to date, with construction ongoing in the Central Valley but no operational high-speed service. Costs have ballooned far beyond original estimates, and federal funding has faced cuts, prompting debates over its viability.
In 2025, the state spent over $450 million (some reports cite up to $650 million including related costs) on a Next Generation 911 emergency system upgrade, only to scrap the regional design due to operational failures and pivot to a new statewide approach, potentially adding hundreds of millions more.
A December 2025 California State Auditor report designated eight state agencies (including EDD, Health Care Services, and Social Services) as "high-risk" for waste, fraud, abuse, or mismanagement—doubling from prior assessments during Governor Newsom's tenure—and flagged statewide issues like financial reporting delays and federal fund mismanagement.
1900 miles away from Sacramento, in St Paul Minnesota, it has its own blue state major scandals. Most notably the Feeding Our Future case, where over $250 million was fraudulently claimed from federal child nutrition programs, with 78+ defendants charged. Broader investigations into 14 Medicaid-related programs suggest potential fraud exceeding $1 billion (possibly up to $9 billion in billed amounts since 2018), involving autism services, housing stabilization, and more.
However, Minnesota lacks equivalent systemic high-risk agency designations or multi-billion single-issue wastes like California's unemployment or homelessness tracking failures.
California's issues involve larger absolute dollar amounts and broader systemic critiques (e.g., auditor's high-risk list expansion), amplified by its massive budget and population (nearly 7x Minnesota's). Both states highlight pandemic-era vulnerabilities and oversight lapses, but California's cases span diverse areas with documented billions in untracked or lost funds.
The Palisades Fire, which started on January 7, 2025, in the Santa Monica Mountains, devastated Pacific Palisades, Topanga, and parts of Malibu. It destroyed approximately 6,837 structures (mostly residential, per CAL FIRE and Wildfire Alliance reports) and 30 lives before full containment.
Estimates for rebuilding individual homes in Pacific Palisades vary widely due to the area's high-end properties, rising construction costs, and requirements for fire-hardening:
Industry analyses (e.g., Milliman) estimate an average of $758,000 to $955,000 per destroyed residential structure for basic repair/replacement (excluding code upgrades, wildfire hardening, or inflation over 3–5 years).
Real-world resident and contractor reports cite $4 million to $7 million for luxury homes, reflecting larger sizes, premium materials, and compliance with updated building codes.
General LA-area wildfire rebuild costs range from $350–$900 per square foot, leading to totals of $1–$3 million+ for typical homes; many policies (including California's FAIR Plan) cap at $3 million, leaving gaps for underinsured owners.
Rebuilding timelines often span 3–5 years or longer, delayed by permits, debris removal, insurance disputes, and labor shortages.
Broader estimates for the Palisades Fire (distinct from the concurrent Eaton Fire) contribute to combined LA wildfires totals:
Insured losses for Palisades-specific structures are in the tens of billions, driven by median pre-fire home values around $4 million.
Total economic damage and rebuilding costs across the Palisades and related fires have been projected as high as $250–$275 billion (AccuWeather, including indirect losses), with property/capital losses alone at $95–$164 billion (UCLA Anderson Forecast).
The FireAid benefit concert raised $100 million to help in the recovery from the Palisades and Eaton fires. But many have questioned where the money went and why they didn't personally receive any of it.
More focused reports suggest $35–$45 billion in insured payouts for the fires, plus public infrastructure repairs (~$350 million in LA city limits).
Many residents face challenges rebuilding due to insurance shortfalls, with some opting to sell lots (e.g., burned properties fetching $1 million+ as "blank canvases").
Recovery efforts include streamlined permitting and federal aid, but progress remains slow as of late 2025.
Top it all off with California's "train to nowhere" (High-Speed Rail) project's cost is estimated around $135 billion, a massive increase from its original budget, what “was supposed to be a line from Los Angeles to San Francisco for $33 billion (already an inflated price tag) completed by 2020 has morphed into a colossal boondoggle”, Sec Sean Duffy said in an oped in the Sacremento Bee. He went on, facing significant overruns, delays, and a funding gap for even the initial Central Valley segment (Bakersfield to Merced), leading ongoing political controversy over its viability and scale. In 2021, the Biden administration restored about $929 million in grants that the Trump administration had revoked in 2019. This year Duffy pulled the plug on $4B of taxpayer’s contribution of this state’s mismanagement.
Federal records show SNAP payouts in Minnesota increased 174% between 2020 and 2021, with payouts increasing from about $725 million in 2020 to nearly $2 billion the following year. Following a prolonged government shutdown that saw a pause in benefits for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients, Trump administration officials have signaled another stoppage for those who live in states who they say have faced fraud – one of which is Minnesota.
Editorial comments expressed in this column are the sole opinion of the writer.
