John Chiang

John Chiang

Democratic Party

Prior offices

California Treasurer

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California Controller

Successor: Betty Yee

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Elections and appointments

Last election

June 5, 2018

Education

Bachelor's

University of South Florida

Law

Georgetown University

Personal

Profession

Attorney

Contact

Campaign Facebook

Personal website

Personal Twitter

John Chiang (Democratic Party) was the California Treasurer. He left office in 2019.

Chiang (Democratic Party) ran for election for Governor of California. He lost in the primary on June 5, 2018.

Chiang was the Democratic California treasurer from 2015 to 2019. He was first elected to the office on November 4, 2014.

Chiang was the Democratic California controller from 2007 to 2015. Chiang was first elected to the position on November 7, 2006, and won re-election on November 2, 2010. Chiang was term-limited from seeking a third term as state controller in the 2014 elections, and instead ran for the office of California treasurer.

Biography

Chiang was born in New York City to Taiwanese immigrants. He earned a B.A. in finance from the University of South Florida and a law degree from Georgetown University. After graduating from Georgetown, he began a career as a tax law specialist with the Internal Revenue Service. He also served as an attorney in the State Controller’s Office. Before becoming controller, Chiang served on the state Board of Equalization from 1998 to 2006. Previously, he was an attorney in the California controller's office and a tax law specialist with the Internal Revenue Service. Chiang resides in Torrance, California, with his wife, Terry Chi.

Education

• B.A., Finance, University of South Florida
• J.D., Georgetown University

Political career

California Treasurer (2015-2019)

Chiang was first elected to the state treasurer's office on November 4, 2014. He was sworn into office on January 5, 2015, replacing term-limited predecessor Bill Lockyer (D). Chiang did not run for re-election in 2018.

California Controller (2007-2015)

Chiang was first elected to the state controller's office on November 7, 2006 and was subsequently re-elected on November 2, 2010.

Enforcement of Proposition 25

See also: California Proposition 25, Simple Majority Vote to Enact State Budget Amendment (2010)

Chiang announced on June 2, 2011, that unless the state legislature passed a balanced budget by June 15, the deadline specified in the California Constitution, he would start docking their pay. He said, "In passing Proposition 25 last November, voters clearly stated they expect their representatives to make the difficult decisions needed to resolve any budget shortfalls by the mandatory deadline, or be penalized. I will enforce the voters' demand."

On June 22, Chiang announced that he was following through with his promise. Legislators did pass a budget, but according to Chiang, the budget they passed had a $1.85 billion deficit, and was therefore not a legal budget under the state's requirement that its budget must be balanced. Therefore, Chiang said, there was functionally no budget and by the terms of Proposition 25, he was required to stop paying the state's legislators. The impact to individual members of the California State Legislature was about $400/day. In Chiang's statement, he said that parts of the budget the legislature did pass were "miscalculated, miscounted or unfinished."

Mike Gatto, a member of the California State Assembly, was one of several state legislators angered by Chiang's action. Gatto said, "John Chiang just wants to sit there and beat up on the unpopular kids. I now have to explain to my wife and daughter that we won't be able to pay the bills because a politician chose to grandstand at our expense."

The editorial board of the Los Angeles Times had endorsed Proposition 25, but when Chiang announced on June 22 that he was stopping state legislative pay under its terms, the editorial board came out swinging against Chiang's action, referring to "an ill-advised provision" of Proposition 25 as well as to "poorly worded or deceptive measures with unforeseen consequences."

Sued by legislators

On January 24, 2012, Democratic lawmakers sued Chiang for withholding their pay, saying it was a misuse of power. The suit did not ask for reimbursement of the pay, but rather sought to have the court bar the controller from doing it again if legislators approve a budget that they believe is balanced.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D) said the controller does not have the power to say if a budget is sound or not, stating, "Neither the governor nor any member of the executive branch may brandish the threat of withholding legislative pay because they disagree with the decisions made by the legislative branch."

Chiang issued a statement, noting, "While nothing in the Constitution gives me the authority to judge the honesty, legitimacy or viability of a budget, it does clearly restrict my authority to issue pay to legislators when they fail to enact a balanced budget by the constitutional deadline of June 15."

Board of Equalization (1999-2005)

Before becoming state controller, Chiang was elected to the Board of Equalization in 1998 where he served two terms, including three years as chair. The Board of Equalization collects California state sales and use tax, as well as fuel, alcohol, and tobacco taxes and fees that provide revenue for state government and essential funding for counties, cities, and special districts.

Elections

2018

See also: California gubernatorial election, 2018

General election

General election for Governor of California

Gavin Newsom defeated John Cox in the general election for Governor of California on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gavin Newsom (D)	61.9	7,721,410
		John Cox (R)	38.1	4,742,825

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 12,464,235 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Governor of California

The following candidates ran in the primary for Governor of California on June 5, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gavin Newsom (D)	33.7	2,343,792
✔		John Cox (R)	25.4	1,766,488
		Antonio Villaraigosa (D)	13.3	926,394
		Travis Allen (R)	9.5	658,798
		John Chiang (D)	9.4	655,920
		Delaine Eastin (D)	3.4	234,869
		Amanda Renteria (D)	1.3	93,446
		Robert Newman (R)	0.6	44,674
		Michael Shellenberger (D)	0.5	31,692
		Peter Liu (R)	0.4	27,336
		Yvonne Girard (R)	0.3	21,840
		Gloria La Riva (Peace and Freedom Party)	0.3	19,075
	Submit photo	Juan Bribiesca (D)	0.3	17,586
		Josh Jones (G)	0.2	16,131
		Zoltan Gyurko Istvan (L)	0.2	14,462
	Submit photo	Albert Caesar Mezzetti (D)	0.2	12,026
		Nickolas Wildstar (L)	0.2	11,566
	Submit photo	Robert Davidson Griffis (D)	0.2	11,103
		Akinyemi Agbede (D)	0.1	9,380
	Submit photo	Thomas Jefferson Cares (D)	0.1	8,937
		Christopher Carlson (G)	0.1	7,302
		Klement Tinaj (D)	0.1	5,368
		Hakan Mikado (Independent)	0.1	5,346
	Submit photo	Johnny Wattenburg (Independent)	0.1	4,973
		Desmond Silveira (Independent)	0.1	4,633
		Shubham Goel (Independent)	0.1	4,020
	Submit photo	Jeffrey Edward Taylor (Independent)	0.1	3,973

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 6,961,130
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Boris Romanowsky (Independent)
• Robert Kleinberger (R)
• Lindsey Neil Shortland (Independent)
• George Konik (R)
• Scot Sturtevant (Independent)
• Ted Crisell (D)
• James Tran (Independent)
• Jacob Morris (R)
• Michael Bilger (Independent)
• Andy Blanch (Independent)
• Daniel Amare (R)
• David Bush (Independent)
• David Hadley (R)
• Grant Handzlik (Independent)
• David Asem (D)
• Stasyi Barth (R)
• Michael Bracamontes (D)
• Analila Joya (Independent)
• Harmesh Kumar (D)
• Joshua Laine (Independent)
• John Leslie-Brown (R)
• Frederic Prinz von Anhalt (Independent)
• Timothy Richardson (Independent)
• Brian Domingo (R)
• Doug Ose (R)

Endorsements

Click [show] to view endorsements issued in this race

Primary candidate endorsements Endorsement Date Newsom (D) Villaraigosa (D) Chiang (D) Eastin (D) Cox (R) Allen (R) Federal officials President Trump (R) May 19, 2018 ✔ Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) May 3, 2018 ✔ Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA) April 29, 2018 ✔ Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) February 27, 2018 ✔ Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) February 16, 2018 ✔ Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) February 1, 2018 ✔ Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) October 19, 2017 ✔ Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA) August 29, 2017 ✔ Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) August 22, 2017 ✔ Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) August 13, 2017 ✔ Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) August 12, 2017 ✔ National figures Activist Maria Elena Durazo (D) April 10, 2018 ✔ Former Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-GA) March 12, 2018 ✔ Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) January 26, 2018 ✔ State figures Businesswoman and 2010 gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman (R) May 24, 2018 ✔ California Commissioner of Insurance Dave Jones (D) April 16, 2018 ✔ State Sen. James Beall Jr. (D) February 1, 2018 ✔ Assemblyman Ash Kalra (D) February 1, 2018 ✔ Former Rep. Tony Coelho (D) December 13, 2017 ✔ Assemblywoman Shirley Weber (D) December 2, 2017 ✔ Assemblyman Ian Calderon (D) November 27, 2017 ✔ Secretary of State Alex Padilla October 26, 2017 ✔ Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez-Fletcher (D) October 21, 2017 ✔ California Board of Equalization Chairwoman Diane Harkey (R) October 21, 2017 ✔ Assemblyman Bill Brough (R) October 10, 2017 ✔ Assemblyman Phillip Chen (R) October 10, 2017 ✔ Assemblyman Steven Choi (R) October 10, 2017 ✔ Assemblyman James Gallagher (R) October 10, 2017 ✔ Assemblyman Matthew Harper (R) October 10, 2017 ✔ Assemblyman Tom Lackey (R) October 10, 2017 ✔ Assemblyman Jay Obernolte (R) October 10, 2017 ✔ Assemblyman Jim Patterson (R) October 10, 2017 ✔ Assemblyman Randy Voepel (R) October 10, 2017 ✔ State Sen. Joel Anderson (R) October 10, 2017 ✔ State Sen. Jeff Stone (R) October 10, 2017 ✔ State Sen. Steven Bradford (D) September 20, 2017 ✔ State Sen. Bob Wieckowski (D) July 3, 2017 ✔ Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia (D) June 21, 2017 ✔ Former Democratic Party of California Chairman John Burton (D) June 20, 2017 ✔ Assemblyman Anthony Rendon (D) February 7, 2017 ✔ Former Assemblyman Dan Logue (R) Unknown ✔ Local figures Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley May 24, 2018 ✔ Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn (D) May 14, 2018 ✔ Former San Francisco Supervisor Tom Ammiano (D) May 8, 2018 ✔ Former San Francisco Supervisor Harry Britt (D) May 8, 2018 ✔ Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson May 3, 2018 ✔ Los Angeles County Supevisor Hilda Solis (D) April 5, 2018 ✔ San Jose City Councillor Raul Peralez April 2, 2018 ✔ San Jose City Councillor Chappie Jones April 2, 2018 ✔ San Jose City Councillor Sergio Jimenez April 2, 2018 ✔ Los Angeles City Councillor Curren Price (D) February 5, 2018 ✔ Los Angeles City Councillor Marqueece Harris-Dawson February 5, 2018 ✔ San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo January 31, 2018 ✔ Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia (D) November 30, 2017 ✔ Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg (D) November 27, 2017 ✔ Los Angeles City Councillor Bob Blumenfield (D) August 22, 2017 ✔ Former Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster (D) August 12, 2017 ✔ Organizations International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 47 May 23, 2018 ✔ California National Organization for Women May 15, 2018 ✔ The San Diego Union-Tribune May 11, 2018 ✔ The Los Angeles Times May 10, 2018 ✔ The Santa Barbara Independent May 10, 2018 ✔ The San Francisco Chronicle May 9, 2018 ✔ California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce May 9, 2018 ✔ Fontana Democratic Club May 8, 2018 ✔ Republican Party of Santa Barbara County May 5, 2018 ✔ Santa Cruz Sentinel May 5, 2018 ✔ The San Francisco Bay Guardian May 2, 2018 ✔ Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association April 30, 2018 ✔ The Mercury News and the East Bay Times April 28, 2018 ✔ Kings County Republican Party April 27, 2018 ✔ African-American Farmers of California April 24, 2018 ✔ Nisei Farmers League April 24, 2018 ✔ Republican Party of Orange County April 18, 2018 ✔ Silicon Valley Asian Pacific American Democratic Club April 13, 2018 ✔ California Labor Federation April 12, 2018 ✔ San Diegans for Secure Borders April 11, 2018 ✔ AAPI Democratic Club of San Diego April 2, 2018 ✔ California Charter Schools Association Advocates March 27, 2018 ✔ Teamsters Joint Council 42 March 14, 2018 ✔ Service Employees International Union February 13, 2018 ✔ Association of California State Supervisors February 7, 2018 ✔ Equality California January 30, 2018 ✔ Burbank Democratic Club January 29, 2018 ✔ California Professional Firefighters January 19, 2018 ✔ Peace Officers Research Association of California January 11, 2018 ✔ California Pro-Life Democrats January 10, 2018 ✔ San Francisco Berniecrats January 4, 2018 ✔ Teamsters Joint Council 7 December 8, 2017 ✔ Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs December 1, 2017 ✔ Laborers' International Union of North America November 1, 2017 ✔ California Teachers Association October 21, 2017 ✔ National Union of Healthcare Workers October 18, 2017 ✔ California ProLife Council October 17, 2017 ✔ California Association of Professional Employees June 22, 2017 ✔ California Impact Republicans April 23, 2017 ✔ California Nurses Association December 2, 2015 ✔ Silicon Valley Association of Republican Women February 18, 2018 ✔

Polls

See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls

California Governor's Race, Top-Two Primary, 2018
Poll	Gavin Newsom (D)	Antonio Villaraigosa (D)	John Chiang (D)	Travis Allen (R)	John Cox (R)	Delaine Eastin (D)	Amanda Renteria (D)	Robert Newman (R)	Undecided/Other	Margin of error	Sample size
University of California at Berkeley (May 22-28, 2018)	33%	13%	7%	12%	20%	4%	0%	0%	13%	+/-3.5	2,106
SurveyUSA (May 21, 2018)	33%	8%	10%	12%	17%	2%	0%	1%	15%	+/-6.1	678
SurveyUSA (April 19-23, 2018)	21%	18%	9%	10%	15%	1%	3%	4%	18%	+/-5.5	520
AVERAGES	29%	13%	8.67%	11.33%	17.33%	2.33%	1%	1.67%	15.33%	+/-5.03	1,101.33
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.

California Governor's Race, Top-Two Primary, 2018
Poll	Gavin Newsom (D)	Antonio Villaraigosa (D)	Travis Allen (R)	John Chiang (D)	John Cox (R)	Delaine Eastin (D)	Doug Ose (R)	Undecided/Other	Margin of error	Sample size
Public Policy Institute of California (March 25, 2018 - April 3, 2018)	26%	13%	10%	7%	15%	6%	0%	23%	+/-3.2	1,704
Public Policy Institute of California (March 4-13, 2018)	28%	12%	10%	6%	14%	5%	0%	24%	+/-3.4	1,706
David Binder Research for Newsom (January 31 - February 4, 2018)	30%	11%	4%	11%	7%	4%	4%	29%	+/-3.5	800
PPIC (January 21-30, 2018)	23%	21%	8%	9%	7%	4%	3%	25%	+/-4.35	1,042
UC Berkeley (December 7-16, 2017)	23%	19%	7%	5%	9%	4%	0%	33%	+/-3.8	1,000
USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times (October 27 - November 6, 2017)	31%	21%	15%	12%	11%	4%	0%	6%	+/-3.0	1,504
AVERAGES	26.83%	16.17%	9%	8.33%	10.5%	4.5%	1.17%	23.33%	+/-3.54	1,292.67
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.

California Governor's Race, Top-two primary, 2018 (no margin of error information)
Poll	Gavin Newsom (D)	John Cox (R)	Travis Allen (R)	John Chiang (D)	Antonio Villaraigosa (D)	Delaine Eastin (D)	Amanda Renteria (D)	Undecided/Other	Sample Size
David Binder Research for Newsom (March 16-21, 2018)	29%	16%	13%	9%	7%	2%	2%	22%	1,750
Note: A "0%" finding means the candidate was not a part of the poll. The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.

California Governor's Race, Top-two primary, 2018
Poll	Gavin Newsom (D)	Antonio Villaraigosa (D)	John Cox (R)	John Chiang (D)	Travis Allen (R)	Delaine Eastin (D)	Robert Newman (R)	Yvonne Girard (R)	Robert Kleinberger (R)	Undecided/Other	Margin of error	Sample size
SurveyUSA (March 22-25, 2018)	22%	14%	11%	9%	7%	3%	3%	2%	2%	27%	+/-5.0	517
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Campaign tactics and strategies

Support

"Truth" - Chiang campaign ad, released May 25, 2018

"History" - Chiang campaign ad, released May 17, 2018

"Story" - Chiang campaign ad, released May 15, 2018

"Endorsed" - Chiang campaign ad, released May 12, 2018

"Quiet Storm" - Chiang campaign ad, released April 25, 2018

"Most Accomplished" - Chiang campaign ad, released February 13, 2018

"Underdog" - Chiang campaign ad, released January 26, 2018

Online presence

	Facebook			Twitter
Candidate	Followers	Likes	Comments on Last Ten Posts	Followers	Following	Tweets
Allen	452,842	446,786	20.8K	13,582	751	779
Chiang	73,957	73,589	195	12,311	6,998	2,520
Cox	178,866	178,370	1,458	4,084	831	784
Eastin	13,625	13,279	67	4,004	1,395	1,415
Newsom	853,120	609,774	15.0K	1,495,898	23,876	10,054
Villaraigosa	108,805	108,177	280	17,291	1,275	2,267

Tweets by Travis Allen Tweets by John Chiang Tweets by John Cox Tweets by Delaine Eastin Tweets by Gavin Newsom Tweets by Antonio Villaraigosa

2016

See also: United States Senate election in California, 2016

Chiang was a potential candidate in the 2016 election for the U.S. Senate, to represent California. However, Chiang decided not to seek election to the seat.

2014

See also: California down ballot state executive elections, 2014

Chiang ran successfully for the office of California State Treasurer in the 2014 elections. He secured a spot on the general election ballot in the primary on June 3, 2014. The general election took place on November 4, 2014.

Results

Primary election

California Treasurer, Blanket Primary, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	John Chiang	55%	2,250,098
	Republican	Greg Conlon	38.4%	1,571,532
	Green	Ellen Brown	6.6%	270,388
Total Votes				4,092,018
Election results via California Secretary of State

General election

Treasurer of California, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	John Chiang	58.8%	4,176,793
	Republican	Greg Conlon	41.2%	2,925,895
Total Votes				7,102,688
Election results via California Secretary of State

2010

Chiang won re-election as Controller in the November 2, 2010 election.

California Controller (2010)
Candidates		Votes	Percent
John Chiang (D)		5,325,357	55.2%
Tony Strickland (R)		3,487,014	36.1%
Andrew Favor (L)		292,441	3.1%
Karen Martinez (PAF)		209,638	2.2%
Ross Frankel (G)		191,282	1.9%
Lawrence Beilz (AIP)		154,145	1.5%

Campaign themes

2018

“	Policy for Preventing Sexual Harassment and Assault As the recent disclosures by the courageous women who have stood up to denounce sexual harassment and assault in state government have demonstrated, it is long past time to change the culture in Sacramento and throughout state government. Accountability must begin at the top. We must answer the brave victims who have declared #MeToo with a resolute #TimesUp. AS GOVERNOR I PLEDGE TO: Require the nation’s most rigorous annual training and compliance efforts that send a clear message that there is zero tolerance for sexual harassment and assault and it will be diligently enforced during my administration. I will establish a Hotline for state employees, interns and fellows to confidentially report harassment and create an office to assist victims in filing harassment complaints and supporting them through the process. I will create channels for state employees and elected officials to report harassment quickly, before it escalates. Women should have a voice in the process, and if they don’t want to file formal complaints or engage in legal battles, we still need an avenue for them to report and stop unacceptable behavior. I will protect victims and whistleblowers who file charges of harassment against retaliation. I will remove the investigation of sexual assault cases from the victim’s office and refer all cases to outside legal counsel. Sexual assault cases that cross the line into potential criminality will be referred to law enforcement for prosecution. I will also support the decision of victims to sue their harassers and have their day in court. I will refuse to allow those found guilty of sexual assault to hide behind walls of secrecy and power. Those who are found to have committed these acts will be publicly disclosed. Data published on health and safety conditions in the workplace will include statistics about sexual harassment. State anti-harassment policies will apply to lobbyists, interns, advocates and others who come into regular contact with legislative or regulatory agencies. The state shall adopt a policy similar to the one utilized by the University of California to eliminate the conflict of interest posed by consensual relationships between those where one has supervisorial or management authority over the other or where they influence that person’s terms of employment. Sexual or romantic relationships between interns and legislators or superiors shall be strictly prohibited. I commit to changing the culture in Sacramento by changing the makeup of state government to the extent that persons in powers feel they can commit sexual harassment, including assault, and get away with it. Positions in my Administration will be required to rigorously adhere to and enforce the anti-sexual harassment and anti-retaliation laws, regulations and policies. Finally, I will make it an urgent priority to examine other additional ways to eliminate sexual harassment and assault in state government. My administration will lead by example for all businesses in the state. Affordable Housing and Solutions for Homelessness Working Californians can’t afford to live and work in the communities in which they grew up. A third of our state’s renters spend more than half of their earnings on housing costs. In a world where more and more freeway underpasses and parks are becoming makeshift housing, we must think big and act boldly to address a problem that has metastasized from a crisis to an economic and humanitarian crisis. Every Californian has a right to an affordable, decent place to call home. Within the decade, my goal is to place a roof over the heads of an additional four million low- and moderate-income Californians by investing additional public resources into affordable housing production and doubling local government permitting activity for all types of housing. HERE’S HOW WE GET THERE: New Funding for Housing We need to invest in affordable housing, and we need to do it now. While I am proud of my role in successfully advocating for SB 2, which creates a dedicated new revenue stream for affordable housing programs, and SB 3, which places a $4 billion affordable housing bond before voters in 2018, these accomplishments are a mere down payment for what we need to meet our housing needs. As governor, I will go much farther. I will fight for at least $9 billion in affordable housing bonds and increase the state’s Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program by an additional $600 million, annually. Next, we’ll increase dedicated affordable housing resources by resurrecting and re-imagining local redevelopment programs so they actually serve the intended purposes of economic development and the elimination of blight, rather than serve as slush funds for local politicians to dole out. Importantly, I will dedicate 35 percent of property tax increment to low- and moderate-income housing. Encourage Responsible Local Housing Policies Currently, most cities and counties have an economic incentive to pursue commercial development projects, like auto malls and big box retail stores, rather than housing. Local planning and zoning decisions are driven by the goal of maximizing sales tax revenue and padding the budgets of local municipalities. Given how big our state’s affordable housing problem is, it’s a real problem when local governments aren’t addressing this issue. We need to put an end to “fiscalized land uses” and exclusionary local zoning policies. This can be accomplished by creating a system of “carrots” and “sticks” to incentivize cities and counties to increase housing production, including: offering additional funding for housing production, including additional transportation funds, sales tax revenues, and state infrastructure funds. ensuring accountability when NIMBYism and local zoning/land use rules prevent the construction of needed housing. In Massachusetts, for example, the state’s Chapter 40B legislation allows developers of affordable housing to apply for exceptions to local zoning laws if ten percent of the community housing stock doesn’t already consist of affordable housing units. If the municipality rejects the application, the developer can appeal to a state board. The state board has overridden local zoning laws in 95 percent of the cases brought before it in the past 48 years, resulting in the construction of over 50,000 affordable homes. Address Homelessness More than 118,000 Californians experience homelessness on any given night, more than any other state in the country. It’s heartbreaking. I strongly believe we have a moral and ethical obligation to take care of our fellow men and women. Cities like San Francisco have tried and failed to properly address homelessness, with outrageous policies like criminalizing begging and sleeping on the streets. Not only does it not help the homeless and not help the city, but it doesn’t reflect who we are as compassionate people. Rapid rehousing and prevention are the two most successful and cost-efficient ways at helping individuals and families escape homelessness. Studies show that families that are rapidly rehoused when they face homelessness are more likely to stay in a home 12 months later than families who have to rely on temporary shelter. I want to prevent chronic homelessness by creating a statewide rapid rehousing program to mitigate situations that lead to homelessness and shelter those in immediate need. Such a program could include financial assistance with security and utility deposits, rental assistance for 3 to 18 months, assistance with paying utility bills, moving cost assistance, and emergency vouchers for motels or hotels. Prevention also depends on addressing the underlying issues of why people are facing homelessness. I support investments in job placement programs, life-skills training, transportation assistance, and access to quality affordable health care and mental health. When you combine these services with rapid rehousing, individuals have the tools and the resources to escape homelessness. Provide Incentives to Encourage Multi-Family Housing Housing production has lagged in California for years. We can maximize our investments in affordable housing by focusing resources on multi-family housing units, like apartment buildings. I want to spur the production of mixed-income rental housing with full or partial property tax exemptions to developers of market-rate housing that include at least 20 percent affordable units. Since the early 1970s the City of New York has been very successful at spurring production of such housing through its property tax incentive programs. California needs smart and creative solutions like this to encourage developers to meet our housing needs. Cabinet-Level Secretary of Housing Given Californian’s size and all the different parties that play a role in housing, it’s no wonder that the system is convoluted and creates unnecessary delays to housing development. If we want to encourage affordable housing development in the most efficient manner possible, we need to bring central coordination to this vital issue. As governor, I will create a Housing Czar position within the Governor’s Office to coordinate state, regional, and local efforts to increase housing production, address affordability, and end homelessness. This person will have the authority and the expertise to provide strong leadership on this vital issue to make sure California is tackling this issue with urgency. Road Map for Education The California Dream was built upon the solid foundation of quality, universal public education. People moved to California for the outstanding public schools. The comprehensive system of affordable two and four-year colleges and universities were the envy of the entire world. Investment in education paid off big returns for the state, fueling a burgeoning economy and a rising standard of living. We need to do everything possible to look holistically at ways to improve our education system so every student has an opportunity to achieve their dreams. Shatter the Political Ceiling In 1988, California voters approved Proposition 98, which requires a minimum percentage of the state budget to be spent on K-12 education. Unfortunately, while Proposition 98 was meant to create a constitutional “floor” for education spending, it has turned into a political ceiling. As a result, California is grossly under-invested in public education. Proposition 30, and its extension, has helped some, yet California still lags far behind the national average in per pupil expenditures. We simply must invest more in education. It is also clear that local communities are willing to pay for better schools. The overwhelming success of local school bonds is testament to the fact voters recognize the tremendous unmet need. But building new schools is pointless if we don’t have the money to operate them. School districts or local communities should be empowered with the ability to raise revenues to meet their unique education needs, whether it be funding for educators and classified employees, school supplies or operating costs. We should reinforce the voters’ wise decision to lower the vote for local school construction funding from two-thirds to 55 percent by empowering communities to raise funds for their school budgets in the same manner. The Teacher Shortage: Obtain, Train, Retrain In the last decade, California has experienced an unprecedented 75 percent decline in enrollment in teacher preparation programs. Districts are facing alarming rates of teacher shortages. We must expand our efforts to address growing teacher shortages—especially in the areas of STEM, special education, and ESL—by offering student loan forgiveness, helping classified employees earn their bachelor and teaching degrees, recruiting students out of high school to pursue teaching careers, and offering proven residency and mentoring programs that both improve teaching performance and dramatically increase retention rates. Empower the Professionals Classroom teachers are held accountable for student success. Yet they have very little control over many of the decisions that affect their students academically and affect them professionally. Curriculum, textbooks, in-service training, and many other critical issues are all in the control of school management. We should embrace the practices of California’s world class public universities and establish Academic Senates in school districts to allow teachers to share in decision-making over textbooks, curriculum, in-service training, the hiring of principals and other critical policies. We also must protect the collective bargaining rights of our educators, classified employees, professors, early childhood educators and child care providers. It is critically important that the people who interact with our students and children every day have a seat at the table and a voice on the job to advocate for the best conditions possible for our children to learn. The Smartest Investment For decades, research has confirmed that quality early childhood education programs not only make children more successful in school, but pay enormous dividends over time, including higher graduation rates, employment rates, wages, and tax revenues; lower welfare costs, health care costs, and crime rates. California faces a critical shortage of affordable, high-quality child care. More than one million families currently qualify for subsidized child care, yet the state only serves 28 percent of those in need. For these families, child care is an absolute necessity in order to provide for their families. It is critically important that California address this economic justice issue. We must work together to build a high quality, affordable child care system that addresses the needs of working families while ensuring our children have the solid foundations they need to succeed in kindergarten. We must also increase both the quantity and quality of California’s early childhood education programs and assure free access for all working families. We also know that small class sizes are the key to improving student learning. We need to expand the Class Size Reduction program so our students have every opportunity to learn. Leveling the Playing Field for All Students Theoretically, all students should be prepared to take college entrance exams based on their core academic education. However, we know that students with families that can afford private college-prep test preparation classes have an unfair advantage when it comes to this standard of college admissions. We must level the playing field for all students by making SAT/ACT preparation available to all public high school students as an elective class. Conditions of Children Matter, a Lot The best research suggests that only about one-third of student success is attributable to in-school factors. The other two-thirds is attributable to other factors: poverty; parent involvement; neighborhood conditions; health care; mental health; and the myriad of other factors that affect children and families. Too often school districts and other local governments operate in separate silos, and yet they serve the same populations of children, families and neighborhoods. To reclaim the promise of quality education, we must ensure that children and their families have access to wraparound services to meet their social, emotional and health needs. California Road Map for Affordable and Accessible Higher Education My parents arrived in this country in the 1950s, like all immigrant Americans, dreaming of a better future. My dad came here with just three shirts, two pairs of pants, and barely any money in his pocket. My parents’ relentlessness and determination led to a middle-class neighborhood with better schools, and a college education for my three siblings and me. Today, I’m running for governor because of the opportunities the education I received afforded me. Nowhere else in the world is a story like mine possible. Public higher education is vitally important because it gives so many families, like mine, the opportunity to achieve the American Dream. When California originally adopted its Master Plan for Higher Education in 1960, it expressed the intent that higher education “remain accessible, affordable, high-quality and accountable” (Legislative Analyst’s Office, 2004). In recent decades, however, the State of California has throttled down its investment in higher education. Higher education’s falling share of the state budget has meant increased costs for students and their families, larger class sizes, and an ongoing challenge to community colleges, CSUs, and UCs to maintain the quality of instruction that has made California a model for the rest of the world. As a result, over the past 20 years, tuition has tripled for UC and CSU undergraduate students. With room, board, and books, the cost for an in-state UC undergraduate student can now top $30,000 each year. What’s just as bad is that California students have to worry about the crippling costs if they are one of the limited few who can access a spot in our CSU or UC systems. The “fiscalization” of higher education policy has meant that more qualified California students are being turned away in favor of out-of-state students, who pay significantly higher tuition rates. Those who do find a spot are more often taught by lecturers instead of tenured professors, while tenured professors are increasingly told to devote more of their time to research over teaching. We know the lack of affordability and accessibility has the potential to create dire consequences for our economy. Some experts predict California will fall about 1.1 million college graduates short of economic demand by 2030, if current trends persist. If California is to keep its place as the sixth largest economy in the world, we need to be training Californians to fill the jobs of tomorrow. Now is the time to renew our promise to California’s students and restore the original goals of the Master Plan. Returning to Our Community College Roots The American Dream begins and ends with our ability to access education. Today, millions of students are losing out on that dream due to the financial burdens of student debt. Students are being pressured into pursuing careers for a paycheck to pay off student loans, rather than pursuing their true career goals. For generations, California’s community colleges were free, giving all people the opportunity to obtain higher education. But beginning in 1984, the state began charging enrollment fees for community colleges. Since that time enrollment fees have increased more than 800 percent. This is particularly tragic for California workers, who are displaced by economic upheavals and turn to community colleges for retraining. Cities and states across the nation are jumping on board and are finding innovative solutions to provide two free years of community college. California needs to find a way to get to that place, where we make community college free for two years, while ensuring students are on the right path through participation and graduation. Rolling Back Tuition and Fee Increases Affordability is key to ensuring Californians continue to have access to higher education. We should strive for a system that ensures that no student, who is otherwise eligible, is turned away from a public school because of their financial circumstances. Every student needs a debt-free option at a public university. I am calling on the CSU and UC systems to delay any consideration of tuition or fee increases until at least 2019. I understand, better than most, that our colleges and universities have balance sheets to fulfill, and that the state has cut per pupil funding for decades. But I also understand that the rate at which tuition and fees have increased is unsustainable and a disservice to our students. 2009 was the year the dam broke. In the wake of the recession, budget cuts forced California’s colleges and universities to begin imposing massive tuition and fee increases. It was in that year alone that the CSU Board of Trustees voted to hike fees by 10 percent. Not to be undone, the UC Board of Regents later that year approved an astonishing 32 percent fee increase for undergraduate students. In the years that have followed, tuition and fees have increased several more times, pushing the promise of an affordable education even farther out of reach for many students. Over the course of the next 10 years, I am committed to reducing tuition and student fees for our UC and CSU systems, both for undergraduate and graduate students, to their pre-2009 fee hike levels. This isn’t going to be easy, but you can trust that I am committed to this cause and will use the same creative and effective strategies for maximizing state resources that I have demonstrated in my 20 years as a state constitutional officer. Investing in Our Students and Demanding Accountability While Governor Brown has shown a willingness to increase public education funding in this year’s budget, we all know that we need to find a long-term solution to address the CSU and UC systems’ chronic budget challenges. As governor, I will significantly increase the state’s investment in higher education, and I will vigorously pursue a dedicated or otherwise reliable source of funding for higher education. We can’t continue to subject higher education to the whims of our budget negotiation process. I believe the state budget should reflect our values and priorities, and that means we must restore our promise to our colleges and universities. But revenue is only one side of the equation. We also must make sure we’re using that money wisely. We need to establish further efficiencies in the ways the CSU and UC systems spend their resources. As state treasurer and previously as state controller, I understand the importance of auditing. We must demand real accountability from the CSU Board of Trustees and the UC Board of Regents, in exchange for our investments to ensure that their plans have the students’ best interests at heart. Simultaneously, we must hold our institutions accountable for improved results, including time to degree, responding to the needs of increasingly diverse student bodies, lowering student debt, and addressing the projected gap between future workforce needs and the number of expected graduates. Finally, we need to ensure we’re doing everything possible to maximize revenue at our UC system without sacrificing educational quality. We should consider additional entrepreneurial ventures to maximize revenue opportunities, including capitalizing on the UC system’s status as the top university system across the country that is granted patents in the United States. Putting California's Students First In the wake of the recession’s deep funding cuts across the state, many UC campuses actively recruited students from outside California to pad their budgets. Between 2007 and 2016, the University of California quadrupled its non-resident students — leaving many qualified Californian students without a spot in one of our UC schools. The Board of Regents approved a policy in 2017 that capped non-resident enrollment at five UC campuses at 18 percent. This policy also allowed UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Irvine, and UC San Diego, which — at the time had non-resident enrollment rates higher than 18 percent — to be capped at the proportion that each campus enrolled in the 2017–18 academic year. Let me be clear, this cap isn’t nearly good enough. Our tax dollars are funding these institutions, and they should be supporting California’s students. As governor, I’ll go back to the Regents and demand a better deal that ensures Californians are our first priority when it comes to enrollment. Affordability Not Profitability While we have a lot of work to do at the state to level the playing field for California’s students, we also need to do more to directly help our students and their families afford the skyrocketing costs of college. We must take steps to address the unsustainable increase in California state tuition, but, in the meantime, we must also incentivize families to establish a college savings account for every child by enacting refundable tax credits or by providing other incentives to families. I already started this work as treasurer when I unveiled a new Matching Grant Program — in partnership with ScholarShare 529 — to help low- and moderate-income California families jumpstart saving for college. As governor, I will do more to give families these kinds of tools to save. We also know that a growing number of students are graduating with over-burdensome debt, depressing their entire economic future. Fewer college graduates can afford to buy a home, start a family, or save for retirement. As treasurer, I sponsored SB 674 — the RELIEF Act — which would allow borrowers with high-interest private student loans to refinance at lower rates. As governor, I am committed to helping our students refinance their loans so they have an opportunity to pursue their dreams without falling into economic hardship. Finally, we need to address underlying factors that have put stress on our education system — an unfair economy that has left the middle class behind; the inability of students and families to afford textbooks, supplies, food, and housing; threats to public education funding from Washington, DC; affordable health care; financial aid, and so much more. As California’s controller and treasurer, I’ve stood up and fought for California’s students and working families. I am now the only candidate you can trust to act with honesty and integrity, and who will stand up to Donald Trump’s war on public education. California Road Map for Affordable and Accessible Health Care Health care is a right for all, not a privilege for just the wealthy. As governor, I will build a health care system that not only works for everyone in California, but that specifically takes the necessary steps to move our state towards a single-payer system. This monumental, but necessary challenge is going to take a leader who understands our state’s finances in and out, because if you can’t manage a budget, you’re not going to get single-payer passed. We also need a leader who has worked creatively to come up with solutions to our health care needs in the past. When our state saw Californians retiring without any savings, I helped create Secure Choice — a retirement plan that is set to herald in the most significant change to retirement savings since Social Security was enacted in the 1930s, by helping up to 7.5 million Californians retire with dignity and respect, with almost no cost to the state. When Congress tried to take an ax to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and put our state’s health clinics in jeopardy, I found $20 million and came up with the idea for ‘lifeline grants,’ to keep these community health clinics’ doors open. I not only have a record of finding solutions to the complex logistical problems, but the complex budgetary problems facing our state’s health care system. I am the only candidate Californians can trust to manage our state’s finances and get us to single-payer responsibly. As governor, Californians will have access to the quality, affordable medical care they not only need, but deserve. Protecting Our Care The first stop on the road to better health care is resisting those who would do us harm. Here in California, we’ve enjoyed great benefits under the Affordable Care Act, with millions of formerly uninsured Californians getting coverage, including nearly all of our state’s children. One-in-three Californians has coverage through the Medi-Cal expansion. Millions of young adults have benefitted from staying on their parents’ plans until the age of 26. In addition to the sheer number of people with coverage, the quality of coverage has dramatically improved as well. Plans are required to cover essential health benefits, including mental health and substance abuse services, maternity care, prescription drugs, and emergency services. No one can be denied coverage or charged more for having a pre-existing condition, and insurance companies can no longer impose lifetime or yearly limits on coverage. These benefits have saved millions of lives. Unfortunately, the progress we’ve made under the ACA is under attack. When Congress last year attacked Obamacare and clinics like Planned Parenthood, I took bold action. I came up with the idea for ‘lifeline grants’ — so California’s 1,200 community health clinics could keep their doors open — because these clinics are critical for providing health care services to local communities. As governor, I will stand up to those in Washington who would roll back the gains we have made or threaten our coverage and care. We will protect access to health care for all Californians and lead the charge for the rest of the country, to ensure we don’t lose ground. Medicare for All Despite the Affordable Care Act’s success in dramatically increasing health care coverage, it’s still unaffordable for many. Our next step in fixing health care is to overhaul the wasteful, bureaucratic system we currently have that enables too many health care providers to put profits before care. Every person has a right to affordable high-quality health care. I support Bernie Sanders’ Medicare for All plan at the national level and will do everything in my power as governor to support its passage. This bill will ensure that every single American has access to Medicare’s guarantee of quality health care — including preventative services to find and treat health issues early — in their local community. Moving California Forward With a lifetime record of finding pragmatic solutions to the state’s most pressing challenges, I am committed to finding a fiscally responsible way to move to a universal system. But I’m not content to wait for a new federal Administration to get the approvals needed for single-payer — I want to provide Californians with additional assistance on affordability as soon as possible. While Congress debates Medicare for All, California should move forward with establishing a single-payer health care system and focus on two of the most important components of what people support in a single-payer system: universal coverage and reigning in skyrocketing health care costs, including premiums and deductibles. We must also provide assistance with affordability as soon as possible to guarantee that no Californian spends more than a certain percentage of their income on their health care coverage. We can also pass other structural steps to a single-payer system now, like providing a public option, without federal approval. Mental and behavioral health must continue to be an integral part of any plan moving forward. The Affordable Care Act guaranteed that all plans cover mental health and substance abuse services as essential health benefits. We must continue to make improvements to guarantee equal and timely access to quality and affordable care. Taming Costs and Paying for Outcomes I am 100 percent committed to moving California towards a single-payer system. But while we’re on the journey to get there, we can take some steps now to bring down the costs of health care for all Californians. The fastest way to reduce the state’s health care costs is by helping people stay healthy, and reducing the number of people with preventable, chronic conditions, like diabetes and heart disease. We must strive to make California the healthiest state in the nation. We need to make sure our children get a healthy start: that they have safe places to live; access to affordable and healthy food in their neighborhoods; safe places to play and exercise; clean, breathable air, and clean water to drink. Californians must have access to basic primary care and mental health services so we can help people avoid illnesses, control chronic conditions, and detect problems before they escalate into major medical issues. Even when we do that, we’re still left with the remnants of a complicated and elaborate fee-for- service model of medicine that drives up costs. We currently pay for every procedure done by a medical professional. This system creates incentives for more tests, procedures, and surgeries. This makes medical care much more expensive than it should be. We should be rewarding the quality and efficiency of medical care, not the quantity of procedures. We need to create incentives for keeping people healthy, not just treating them when they are injured or sick. The only way to assure our health care system places patients before profits is to tie patient health outcomes to reimbursements. In other words, the healthier the patient, the fewer the errors, the fewer the hospital complications, and the higher the patient satisfaction, which all leads to the system being reimbursed. This is especially important in the area of mental health. Primary care physicians, who may be the first ones to recognize a mental health problem, often can’t take the time to properly diagnose and treat issues. There are economic incentives to keep office visits short and to maximize the number of patients seen. Often, the treatment of mental health problems must compete with other medical issues, such as treating chronic illnesses or providing preventative health services. There should be economic incentives for identifying and creating integrated care plans for mental health treatment. Finally, we must also address concerns over the cost of prescription drugs. In the richest country on earth, people shouldn’t have to forgo prescribed medicine because the cost is too high. California has already taken an important step in addressing this issue by making drug prices, for both public and private health plans, more transparent. However, we must enact pharmaceutical price controls if we want to stop price gauging and assure that providers are prescribing drugs that have the greatest benefit, the safest track record, and offer the best value. We can move now on many of these necessary proposals without waiting for the federal action we’ll need to help finance a single-payer system, but it will take a leader with the a record of coming up with creative solutions to our financial and logistical health care hurdles. California will lead on the important issue of single-payer, and I am committed to getting us there. California Road Map for Clean Air and Livable Earth We are seeing the effects of climate change everywhere — extreme weather, unprecedented sea level rising, increased air pollution, mudslides, wildfires, and loss of animal habitat, to name just a few. And the last two years have been the two hottest on record. While we may have a president in the White House who doesn’t believe in climate change, an EPA Administrator who is dead set on killing the EPA, and an Interior Secretary who doesn’t care about our public lands, California can still stand up to President Trump and his Administration, and lead the way. California must continue to push a progressive vision for tackling climate change: we are building infrastructure to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, we have introduced groundbreaking policies to reduce pollution from industries and vehicles, and California remains the global center of electric vehicle and renewable energy innovation. Despite these impressive efforts, we can and must do more to protect this world for future generations. As governor, I will ensure that California continues to take bold action to clean our air, slow climate change, and green our economy. We must set bold new clean energy goals. We must focus our attention and resources on cleaning up communities that have been marginalized in this debate for decades. And we must find the resources to make these goals a reality. Cleaner Air for a Healthier Tomorrow California remains home to some of the worst air pollution in the country, with more than 90 percent of our residents living in areas where they are exposed to unhealthy air. Two-thirds of conventional criteria pollutants that cause ground-level pollution in the state come from the transportation sector, and it’s this sector that produces more than a third of the greenhouse gas pollution in California. Cleaning up the transportation sector would go a long way toward solving California’s air pollution challenges. In 2012, Governor Brown issued an executive order setting a goal of bringing 1.5 million zero-emissions vehicles onto California’s roads by 2025. This should be considered just the first step in eliminating all fossil-fuel cars sold in California. Zero-emission vehicle technology is already advancing by leaps and bounds, far faster than anticipated. If California wants to take itself off the list of worst air polluters in the United States, no new fossil-fuel cars should be sold in the state by 2035. If technological innovation again beats forecasts, we should move that date up. We can provide healthier air and a brighter future for our children with California-based innovation. Raising the Bar on Renewable Energy California has a long history of setting and meeting ambitious clean energy goals. As part of the state’s efforts to curb climate change, the Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act — signed into law in 2015 — calls for 50 percent of the state’s electricity to come from renewable resources by 2030. Today, California is exceeding those interim goals and is already producing 29 percent of its energy from renewables. Given what’s at stake and the terrific work that’s already been done, we need to double down on our commitment to fight climate change and improve air quality. The strongest single step we can take as a state is to set a bold, new standard for our energy usage. California should utilize 100 percent renewable and carbon-free energy by 2045. While powering the most populous and prosperous state in the country on 100 percent renewables is ambitious, it’s also achievable. The technology exists and the costs are coming down. In order to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, we must keep pushing to transition our economy to one that is powered by clean, green energy. When investing in this transition, we must ensure that that we are giving due consideration to underserved communities where we can make the biggest impact. Leading by Example Buildings are the second largest contributor to greenhouse gases in California. If we are going to tackle climate change head on, then greening our building stock is crucial. This not only makes environmental sense, but it also makes financial sense. Green buildings reduce operating costs and save money over time. It’s also been shown that there is no significant difference in average building costs for green buildings compared to non-green buildings. While the state and cities across California have enacted strong energy efficiency measures, more still needs to be done. The best way to leap forward is to lead by example. As governor, I’ll push to immediately make all new state building construction carbon neutral. This means combining highly efficient buildings with renewable on-site or procured power. And by 2030, all legacy state buildings should be retrofitted to be carbon neutral. It’s imperative that we slash greenhouse gases if we are going to slow the effects of climate change; and what better place to show how serious our state government is than by starting with our own buildings. Environmental Justice People who live and work in California’s most polluted environments are more commonly communities of color. These vulnerable communities are disproportionately burdened with the facilities that wealthier, white neighborhoods reject, such as factories, landfills and diesel bus garages, because of the pollutants they cause. As a result, these communities often suffer from higher rates of asthma and other debilitating illnesses. That’s why I stood with Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE) and voted against building a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Cabrillo Port, off the coast of Oxnard, as a State Lands Commissioner. We can’t continue to punish communities of color with detrimental environment votes. In the past, lobbyists have directed investments away from disadvantaged communities, but those practices must end. California must prioritize the projects that will bring real improvements to those communities that need it the most, and we need to do it now. While working to improve our state’s air quality, we must ensure that local communities are always part of the decision-making process. We need to offer meaningful opportunities for input on environmental justice issues and offer real remedies to concerns. We should be working towards cleaner air and a more livable earth for ALL communities, no matter their zip code. Unleashing Green Bonds Implementing sweeping measures to halt climate change sounds great, but we need to be able to pay for it all. The Paris Agreement — which is being enacted by every nation in the world other than the United States — is expected to cost $93 trillion to replace infrastructure powered by fossil fuels with low-carbon alternatives. Here in California, we need $853 billion in public funds over the next 10 years just for transportation, water, and K-12 school construction. These are staggering price tags, and our next governor must have the knowledge and fiscal experience to find the funding to make these critical investments. I have been our state’s leading voice for “green bonds” to finance our transition to a green economy. A green bond is a form of public or private-sector debt used to finance climate-friendly and environmental projects — including renewable energy, energy efficient products, clean transportation, reforestation, water management, pollution control, seawall construction, and so much more. What’s more is that green bonds have a ready-made investor base of individuals attracted to environmentally friendly products. The need for action is urgent. We should accelerate the maturation of the U.S. green bond market to unleash a torrent of new, affordable capital to finance the conversion from a fossil-fuel based economy and infrastructure to cleaner alternatives. California has a proud history of being a grand laboratory that has produced environmental policies that have gone on to be adopted by countries around the world. Now more than ever, California must take swift, bold action to clean our air, slow climate change and green our economy.	”
—John Chiang for California

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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John Chiang campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2014	California Treasurer	Won	$3,735,749	N/A**
2010	California Controller	Won	$2,231,635	N/A**
2006	California Controller	Won	$3,045,756	N/A**
2002	California Equalization Board District 4	Won	$406,638	N/A**
1998	California Equalization Board District 4	Won	$281,975	N/A**
Grand total			$9,701,753	N/A**
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

See also

• California down ballot state executive elections, 2014
• California gubernatorial election, 2018

External links

Suggest a link

• State Treasurer's Office website
• John Chiang for State Treasurer 2014 Official Campaign Website
• Biography from Project Vote Smart
• Campaign Contributions: 2010, 2008, 2006, 2004, 2002, 2000, 1998

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by '	California Treasurer 2015–2019	Succeeded by Fiona Ma (D)
Preceded by '	California Controller 2007–2015	Succeeded by Betty Yee (D)