Marc Joffe is President of the Contra Costa Taxpayers Association and a California Policy Center visiting fellow.
After a long career in the financial industry, including a senior director role at Moody’s Analytics, he transitioned to policy research at CPC and Reason Foundation. Joffe’s research focuses on government finance and state policy issues.
Marc earned an MBA from New York University and an MPA from San Francisco State University.
2026 began with revelations that numerous billionaires owning upwards of $1 trillion in assets had cut ties with California just before the ball dropped on January 1. These well-heeled folks did not suddenly get tired of California’s weather, scenery, culture, or social scene. Instead, they were avoiding a potential wealth tax hatched by a group...
By Marc Joffe
A health-care union’s ‘one-time fix’ for federal Medicaid cuts could easily become permanent. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), one of the largest labor unions in the country, has launched an experiment in California to determine whether it can wring a large amount of revenue from the state’s billionaires. Its idea is a one-time retroactive...
By Marc Joffe
California Government Revenue and Debt Study How Much State and Local Governments Collect and What They Owe By Marc Joffe Visiting Fellow, California Policy Center December 10, 2025
By Marc Joffe
While California’s economy continues to produce some impressive headline numbers, its trajectory is becoming increasingly dependent on the tech sector. And now that tech has gone all in on artificial intelligence, the state’s finances are vulnerable to either a bursting of the “AI Bubble” or an exit of AI innovators to other states. Gov. Gavin...
By Marc Joffe
Las Vegas is pioneering a new form of underground transportation that could one day benefit congested California cities at low cost. The Boring Company, founded by Elon Musk, is digging a series of narrow tunnels and transporting passengers through them in Tesla sedans. Ultimately, the Boring Company’s Vegas Loop can evolve into a viable alternative...
By Marc Joffe
SEIU (the Service Employees International Union) is at it again. After failing three times to use California ballot initiatives to shake down dialysis providers, the union is now turning its ballot warfare to a new target: California’s 200 or so billionaires. SEIU is sponsoring the “2026 Billionaires Tax Act”. The measure, recently listed on the...
By Marc Joffe
During this month’s government shutdown, Bernie Sanders has been repeating the standard Progressive shibboleth: “Healthcare is a Right!” While this slogan appears to be sufficient to silence opposition, it does not receive sufficient examination. But as this month’s strike at Kaiser Permanente shows, union rights, another major Progressive cause, can and does trump the alleged...
By Marc Joffe
The California High-Speed Rail Authority has finally recognized the obvious: there is no path to connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco with trains running at 220mph. With state rail officials now accepting reality, the question is whether northern California transit planners will do so as well by cancelling their plan to extend California High-Speed Rail...
By Marc Joffe
For partisan Democrats and Republicans, deciding how to vote on Proposition 50 is simple, since it is likely to shift five House seats into the Democratic column in what promises to be a closely fought 2026 Congressional election. But for decline-to-state and third-party voters, as well as less passionate major party registrants, the choice will...
By Marc Joffe
Those of us who prefer smaller, more cost-effective government often applaud privatization. But if private companies can profit by making the public sector bigger and more expensive, they will do so. That’s the case with the private engineering firms that profit from such costly California rail boondoggles as the high-speed rail project. The phenomenon of...
Governor Gavin Newsom exercised sound judgment in vetoing Assembly Bill 699, Catherine Stefani’s (D-San Francisco) measure that threatened to diminish transparency in local elections across California. Newsom’s decision is a welcome affirmation of the public’s right to clear, accessible information regarding new tax burdens and bond indebtedness. AB 699 sought to undermine existing election law...
By Marc Joffe
Since Gavin Newsom took office, California has yet to produce its audited financial statements on time. But, on the plus side, the delay was shorter this year than last and State Controller Malia Cohen is promising a return to timely reporting next year before Newsom leaves office. The accompanying chart shows how many days in...
By Marc Joffe
State Senator Scott Wiener, who recently authored a hefty transit sales tax bill for five Northern California counties, made his objections to robotaxis known to his followers on X. https://t.co/3cWC0DSsZl — Senator Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) September 24, 2025 But the tweet and the Bloomberg article it references do not fully come to grips with the...
By Marc Joffe
California’s community college system continues to struggle with massive enrollment fraud, costing taxpayers millions in improper financial aid payments and raising hurdles to real students trying to complete their programs. California community colleges are especially vulnerable to fraud because of two progressive policy imperatives: tuition-free education and protecting undocumented immigrants. While providing free education without...
By Marc Joffe
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