Housing Archives - Independent California Institute

Plentiful Popplies. By Kevin (slworking2 on Flickr). CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Poll: Californians ready to govern themselves, stop just short of secession

ICI June 29, 2025

50% of Californians say they trust Sacramento more than Washington—only 23% say the reverse.

71% say California would be better off with special autonomous status within the U.S.

44% of Californians would vote for a ballot measure for peaceful, legal secession—but 54% would vote against.

72% of Californians want California police to arrest federal immigration officers that exceed their authority or act maliciously.

80% of Californians want to control borders with other states “like a country.”

Californians endorse more than a dozen changes to state policy that would make California more autonomous.

What it Means to be a Donor State

C.C. Marin March 14, 2025

Is it accurate to describe the federal funding California gets as California’s own money? Would the U.S. be poorer and weaker without California? Does California’s economy prop up red states? Is California one of the states least reliant on the federal government?

The short answer to all these questions is yes. But it’s pretty hard to win a debate with just one data point.

prop-19-res-property-tax-wonderlane-cc-by-2-0

Prop 19: YES on reforming California’s residential property tax system

ICI October 7, 2020

In much the same way that Prop 15 addresses unintended consequences of California’s commercial property tax system, Prop 19 reforms residential property taxes. For starters, “Prop 19: YES on reforming California’s residential property tax system”

prop-21-rent-control-throgers-cc-by-nc-nd-2-0

Prop 21: YES to allowing rent control on 15-year-old buildings

ICI October 7, 2020

Laws which limit rent increases are common in Canada and Europe. However, only 5 U.S. states have any sort of rent control law at either “Prop 21: YES to allowing rent control on 15-year-old buildings”

What California independence looks like: 12 ways California is already moving towards independence (and one more thing to try)

C.C. Marin October 11, 2018

California independence is hard for a lot of people to picture; maybe people can imagine Californians going to the polls to vote on a declaration “What California independence looks like: 12 ways California is already moving towards independence (and one more thing to try)”