Lanhee Chen and Malia Cohen are running for controller of California. Here’s where they stand
Lanhee Chen
Party: Republican
Age: 44
Birthplace: Fayetteville, North Carolina
Residence: Mountain View
Occupation: Fiscal advisor and educator
Education: Bachelor’s degree in government, master’s degree and Ph.D. in political science, law degree from Harvard
Offices held: Senior adviser to the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services, 2008; Social Security Advisory Board, 2014-2018
Website: ChenForCalifornia.com
What areas of the state budget do you think are in most need of an auditor’s eye?
As controller, I would use my audit authority systematically by starting with the state’s biggest or most time-sensitive line items, including K-12 education, homelessness programs, and health care. The state is on pace to spend $20 billion on homelessness programs over a multi-year period, and it doesn’t appear that things are improving. I would also consider the risk of additional fraud or mismanagement in determining the order of audits, to ensure that attention is directed to programs where there has been evidence of difficulty.
Medi-Cal, the joint state-federal health care program focused on providing care to lower-income Californians, is another example of a program that is long overdue for a thorough audit. The controller’s job, in part, is to make sure that the benefits promised to beneficiaries of the program are actually being delivered. This is critical given that the number of residents enrolled in the program has increased significantly since 2014, but the Controller’s Office has failed to comprehensively review its operations for many years. In fact, the last report that the controller issued on how California’s Department of Health Care Services administers the program was in January 2018, and even that audit didn’t uncover the $4 billion in improper spending that a separate report — written by former state Auditor Elaine Howle — disclosed later that year.
Sacramento politicians should not be throwing good money after bad by funding programs that are either inefficient or ineffective. The controller can help to ensure that our spending is targeted and actually addresses the challenge at hand. These two examples are just the tip of the iceberg. There are many other spending priorities that I would examine as controller, from the High-Speed Rail Authority to California’s fraud-ridden unemployment insurance and disability benefits programs.
What strategies will you use to ward off waste and fraud in state government?
California’s state government should be providing total financial transparency to our taxpayers. Fraud and wasteful spending thrive in our current environment because the public lacks complete visibility into state finances. Many other state governments have employed best-in-class transparency tools to help their taxpayers understand how money is being spent, but California has lagged behind. As controller, I will implement a fully machine-readable, searchable, line-by-line accounting of all state spending.
California is, according to some analysts, the only state in the country that does not offer this level of transparency to our residents. Currently, our state furnishes massive amounts of information that is very hard to find and understand in meaningful ways. The state’s billion-dollar effort to provide financial transparency on a unified platform, called Fi$Cal, is overbudget, chronically late, and won’t even provide full functionality or transparency into California’s finances once it is complete.
Our next controller must lead an effort to furnish fiscal information in a way that allows taxpayers to determine how well their money is being spent in easily searchable ways that compare California to other states or over time on important criteria.
Furthermore, California’s private companies lead the way in data science and artificial intelligence tools, yet Sacramento is far behind in using these tools to serve the public. As controller, I will employ data analytics to identify problems earlier, before they grow to the magnitude of, for example, the recent $20 billion EDD fraud.
Malia Cohen
Party: Democratic
Age: 44
Birthplace: San Francisco
Residence: San Francisco
Occupation: Chair and 2nd District representative, California Board of Equalization
Education: Bachelor’s degree, Fisk University; Master’s of public policy and management, Carnegie Mellon University
Offices held: Supervisor, San Francisco Board of Supervisors, 2011-2019; Member, California Board of Equalization, since 2019; President, San Francisco Employee Retirement System; President, San Francisco Police Commission
Campaign website: MaliaCohen.us
What areas of the state budget do you think are in most need of an auditor’s eye?
It is the controller’s duty to ensure that our state’s spending is meeting the promises laid out in our budget each year. I am the only candidate in the race who has the experience needed to perform the job having served as the current chair of the California Board of Equalization and former-chair of the Budget and Finance Committee while on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
In regards to specific programs, one of the first things I will look at is the fraud perpetrated at the Employment Development Department. We must ensure that the money needed to act in an unprecedented crisis is available to those who qualify for the benefits, not fraudsters who take advantage of the system.
I would also like to look into the research and development tax credit. I’ll use the audit function to ensure that companies claiming credit are doing the work and creating quality jobs as part of the promised research. I will use the audit function as aggressively as needed, but it should be noted that the work only begins with the performance of an audit. The controller has the ability to shine a spotlight on issues revealed in the audit, which means that you need a strong advocate in office who’s not afraid to back down from the findings and express what needs to be done to resolve the problems uncovered.
I have spent my career as a fierce advocate and have stood up to large corporations to pursue changes that benefit everyday people and resolve historic inequities. I will do so in a manner that instills confidence in our spending decisions as a state.
What strategies will you use to ward off waste and fraud in state government?
I believe that we need to make an all-out effort to modernize the archaic technology that the state relies on for disbursing funds to various programs. Oftentimes, we see waste and fraud perpetuate in the system because we do not have the most advanced tools to track our spending decisions. This has been a priority for me while serving on the state Board of Equalization. I am proud to have led a property tax modernization initiative to ensure that the state administers property taxes more efficiently and fairly.
More importantly, we need someone who is not afraid to stand up to special interests and elected officials when they find evidence of waste and fraud. I have built a career fighting for policies that improve the lives of everyday Californians, which has meant holding powerful interest groups, like the oil and tobacco industries, accountable. I am not afraid to back down from a fight to make sure that the state is meeting its promises to Californians.
I will hold all elected officials accountable to ensure we are meeting our commitments. This includes the governor, the Legislature, and local governments like San Clemente, which recently tried to pass a ban on abortion. We must make sure that our tax dollars are being spent to uphold our commitment to fundamental rights and services that bring about a more equitable California where everyone thrives.
The controller is one of the most powerful positions in California. My opponent, who has spent decades entrenched in the national Republican establishment and as a pundit for conservative media outlets, is more interested in using the office to play partisan games. I am the only candidate in the race who has the experience and values to make sure the state delivers on its promises, including rooting out waste and fraud.