Steve Hilton says California should be world’s third-biggest economy, blames Gavin Newsom’s red tape
Steve Hilton, a Republican gubernatorial candidate in California, criticized Governor Gavin Newsom for the state's extensive regulatory red tape, which he claims hinders economic growth. Hilton argues that California could become the world's third-largest economy if it reduced bureaucratic regulations that contribute to high housing costs and slow population growth. A report from Hilton's CAL DOGE initiative highlights the significant regulatory burden on California households, estimated at $55,000 annually.
- ▪Steve Hilton blames California's regulatory red tape for preventing the state from becoming the world's third-largest economy.
- ▪A CAL DOGE report indicates California has over 420,000 regulatory restrictions, significantly more than Texas and Florida.
- ▪California's housing stock grew only 4.7% between 2018 and 2024, compared to 13.7% in Texas and 11.3% in Florida.
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Politics Steve Hilton says California should be world’s third-biggest economy, blames Gavin Newsom’s red tape By Josh Koehn Published May 27, 2026, 5:26 p.m. ET See more of our coverage in your search results. Add The California Post on Google Steve Hilton, the leading Republican in the race for California governor, accused Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration of allowing an explosion in regulatory red tape and burdensome laws that have prevented the Golden State from becoming the third-largest economy in the world. “All we need to do to beat the Germans and become the third biggest economy in the world is put the bloated nanny state bureaucracy and all of its regulations into the wood chipper,” Hilton told The California Post Wednesday outside of the Capitol.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at California Post.
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