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California’s bureaucrats have been exposed yet again for squandering taxpayer dollars, according to a new investigative audit that found more than $5 million wasted, misused, or not properly reported by state agencies. Hardworking Californians who pay sky-high taxes deserve better than sloppy accounting and careless stewardship of public funds.
The biggest offender in the report was the Employment Development Department, which blew more than $4.6 million on monthly service fees for thousands of mobile devices that sat unused for months or even years — a staggering display of managerial negligence that Republicans and fiscal conservatives have insisted is the predictable result of unchecked government growth. This wasn’t a rounding error; it was the kind of waste that happens when accountability takes a back seat to bureaucracy.
The audit also unearthed other jaw-dropping examples of mismanagement: the Air Resources Board overpaid a retiring employee by roughly $170,000 due to poor leave tracking, the Department of Veterans Affairs failed to report about $400,000 in taxable housing benefits, and state managers at the Alcoholic Beverage Control agency misused vehicles for personal trips. These are not isolated bookkeeping mistakes—they’re symptoms of a rotten management culture that treats taxpayer dollars like Monopoly money.
All of this comes as California faces serious budget pressure, with state leaders bargaining over how to close an emerging multi-billion-dollar shortfall next year. Citizens who are being asked to tighten their belts should be outraged that millions are evaporating on unused phones and preventable payroll errors while Sacramento debates new spending plans.
The State Auditor didn’t just point fingers; the report includes clear recommendations and requires agencies to report back on corrective and disciplinary actions — a step in the right direction, but far short of the kind of aggressive oversight taxpayers need. If those recommendations aren’t followed with real consequences for managers and appointees who allowed this to happen, the audit will be nothing more than feel-good theater while the waste continues.
This scandal should sound familiar to any conservative who watched Minnesota and other blue-run jurisdictions get caught in fraud and waste schemes over the last year — it’s a pattern, not a fluke, and it underscores a simple truth: bigger government means more opportunity for abuse. Voters must remember that promised services don’t magically appear when spending grows; someone has to pay, and right now hardworking Americans are footing the bill for Sacramento’s incompetence.
The remedy is straightforward: demand firings where warranted, push for audits on a regular schedule, reinstate strict inventory and payroll controls, and elect leaders who respect taxpayers instead of treating them as an endless ATM. California needs fiscal discipline and honest management, not more lectures about fairness from officials who can’t even track a cell phone bill.
