Full Interview — Steve Hilton — California Politics 360

[0:00] Steve Hilton, thank you so much for being with us. [0:02] Of course, great to be with you. [0:03] This is a hard time and a hard job. Why do you want to be California governor now? [0:08] Now? Well, I think everyone can see that this state needs change. I mean, [0:12] even my Democrat opponents in the governor's office, they all talk about how much [0:17] we need change. There's no dispute about that. I love this state. I moved here in 2012 [0:22] with my wife and my two sons, made my life here, raised my family here, [0:26] taught at Stanford, started a business. This is the best place in the world, [0:30] but it's being run in a way that makes it really hard for people to live here. [0:35] And the more that the years went on, you know, actually, as you know, a lot of people know me [0:41] in California from my career in media. I hosted a show on Fox News, but actually, [0:46] most of my career has been in business, working in business all around the world, [0:51] starting my own companies, running a small business. And increasingly, when I was [0:57] taught at Stanford, I started a business in California, but actually, most of my career [0:57] has been in business. And increasingly, when I was talking about politics and policy on my show, [1:00] I just felt more and more I wanted to get back to doing things, to actually making change happen. [1:07] And so it really was a gradual process. I started a policy organization a few years ago, [1:12] Golden Together. That had me traveling the state, listening to Californians, [1:17] developing solutions. And really, through that process, I thought, yeah, I've got the ideas, [1:24] I've got the energy, I've got the experience of making [1:27] change happen. Let's do it. [1:29] The main part of this job is figuring out how to use taxpayer dollars. California right now [1:34] is in a budget situation. I mean, facing these multi-year money problems that will require the [1:39] next governor to likely have the options of cutting tax, or excuse me, cutting programs, [1:46] or raising taxes. Which of those options do you see yourself choosing? [1:50] I think the real imperative for the next governor is cutting spending. So I understand that that's [1:57] often how the job is going to be. But I think the real imperative for the next governor is cutting [1:57] spending. So I understand that that's often how the job is going to be. But I think the real imperative [1:57] is cutting spending. So I understand that that's often how the job is going to be. But I [1:57] think the real imperative is cutting spending. So I understand that that's often how the job is going to be. But I [1:58] think the real imperative is cutting spending. So I understand that that's often how the job is going to be. But I [1:58] think the real imperative is cutting spending. So I understand that that's often how the job is going to be. But I [1:59] think the real imperative is cutting spending. So I understand that that's often how the job is going to be. But I [1:59] think the real imperative is cutting spending. So I understand that that's often how the job is going to be. But I [2:00] think the real imperative is cutting spending. So I understand that that's often how the job is going to be. But I [2:00] think the real imperative is cutting spending. So I understand that that's often how the job is going to be. But I [2:01] think the real imperative is cutting spending. So I understand that that's often how the job is going to be. But I [2:01] or increase taxes to pay for them. [2:03] And that's what all the Democrats are saying. [2:06] If you listen to Eric Swalwell, for example, [2:08] I've heard him say many times now in these debates [2:11] that we have my number one priority [2:13] or my top three priorities, revenue, revenue, revenue. [2:16] We need more revenue. [2:17] Do we? [2:18] You know what's happened to the budget [2:19] in the last five years? [2:21] They've nearly doubled the budget. [2:24] Like five years ago, the budget was $180 billion. [2:27] The one that Gavin Newsom just submitted, $350 billion. [2:30] Everything's worse. [2:31] Homelessness is worse. [2:33] We have the highest poverty rate in the country, [2:35] the highest unemployment rate. [2:37] The schools are a disaster. [2:38] Fewer than half the kids in our public schools [2:41] can read at grade level. [2:43] For math, it's a third. [2:45] I mean, they've nearly doubled the budget [2:47] and everything's worse. [2:48] It's obvious that just spending more and more money [2:51] isn't working. [2:52] And the first thing I would look at is [2:54] before you start talking about cutting programs, [2:56] you've got to cut the fraud and the waste of public money. [3:00] And one of the things, [3:01] that I've been doing in this campaign, [3:03] is not just talking about things, [3:05] but doing things for real. [3:06] I set up what we called CalDOJ, [3:09] the California Department of Government Efficiency, [3:11] two months ago now nearly. [3:13] We are already doing the investigating, [3:16] my team of volunteers, to find fraud. [3:19] Where? What are you finding? [3:20] Well, I'll give you three examples. [3:21] We've published three reports, [3:23] so I'll go through them very quickly. [3:24] But the overall, our estimate [3:26] of the total amount of fraud in the last five years [3:29] is over $430 billion. [3:31] And waste and abuse, $430 billion that isn't going to program. [3:36] So more than a year of spending, [3:38] you're saying there has been fraud specifically in California. [3:41] Not fraud, fraud, waste, abuse. [3:43] Money that's not going to where it should be going. [3:46] And we've got to be precise about that. [3:48] It's not necessarily all criminal activity. [3:51] Some of it is, and you're seeing prosecutions, for example, [3:54] on some of the homeless spending. [3:56] But I'll give you the three examples that we found. [3:58] Number one, the cannabis tax. [4:01] So Prop 65. [4:01] Set up a system for regulating cannabis in California [4:05] where money from the tax [4:06] was supposed to go to substance abuse prevention. [4:09] We found over $350 million [4:12] actually going to Democrat political organizations [4:16] doing things like voter registration. [4:18] The second one, pretty similar structure. [4:21] Over the last 10 years, [4:23] $1 billion from the state's greenhouse gas fund [4:27] that was supposed to be spent installing solar panels [4:30] on low-income apartment buildings. [4:33] Of that $1 billion, it's supposed to be $100 million every year. [4:37] Of that total $1 billion, only $72 million [4:40] was actually spent on solar panels. [4:43] $928 million on all these activist groups and non-profits [4:48] and no one can trace where the money went. [4:50] And then the third one we just published, [4:53] going back to homelessness, Project Homekey, [4:55] $3.8 billion that was supposed to be spent [4:57] on buying properties and then having homeless people [5:01] provide a shelter through them. [5:02] The occupancy rate is just 55% unoccupied, [5:09] whereas for other properties in the United States, 5%. [5:11] So homeless people aren't getting the accommodation. [5:14] And in the process of spending all that money, [5:16] a whole bunch of real estate developers, [5:19] cronies of Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass, [5:21] have got themselves enriched by the value going up [5:25] because the state bought the properties at inflated values. [5:28] And that's just the start. [5:29] I mean, as I said, [5:30] we're volunteers. [5:31] We don't have yet access to the books. [5:34] And then when you add to that [5:35] the money that is being identified as fraud [5:38] and improper spending in Medi-Cal, for example, [5:42] I mean, that's a huge budget [5:43] where you see massive examples of money [5:47] that isn't going to where it's supposed to be, [5:48] which is helping people. [5:50] Where is it going? [5:51] Well, that one, all these fake billing through Medi-Cal [5:55] where you've got doctors writing unheard of numbers of prescriptions. [6:00] And it's obviously a scam. [6:03] But if you don't have access to the books, [6:05] how do you know for sure? [6:06] Well, that one was, that particular example, [6:09] you've had two reports now digging into that. [6:11] And of course, the other connected part of that [6:13] is the hospices, particularly in L.A. [6:15] You had Dr. Oz from the federal administration [6:18] looking into that. [6:20] And you had CBS News looking into that. [6:22] So I think what's really happening here, [6:25] and it's a very interesting moment, [6:26] is that for 16 years, we've had one party rule in California. [6:29] Democrats have run everything. [6:31] They've had all the statewide elected offices, [6:35] super majority in the legislature, [6:36] obviously the governor. [6:37] They've run all the big cities and the counties. [6:40] And there really hasn't been scrutiny of what's been going on. [6:43] We've paid more and more in taxes. [6:45] Everything's got worse. [6:47] And it's only in the recent few months, actually, [6:49] that suddenly we're seeing a huge range of investigations. [6:53] We're doing our part, other organizations too, [6:56] starting to dig into this and saying, [6:58] well, where did the money go? [6:59] Circling back to cutting spending or raising taxes, [7:03] would you cut Medi-Cal for undocumented people? [7:05] Yes. [7:06] We shouldn't be. [7:07] Look, it's outrageous that you've got Californians [7:11] who can barely afford to pay health care. [7:14] The bills just keep going up and up. [7:16] And then those exact people are taxpayers. [7:19] And you're going to take their tax money [7:20] and hand it over in free health care [7:24] with coverage that's often higher and better [7:26] than California taxpayers can afford. [7:28] I would say these people are paying taxes, [7:30] especially if they're not paying taxes. [7:31] They're working in the state. [7:32] Well, some of them are, but they're here illegally. [7:34] Remember, I say this as a legal immigrant. [7:38] And I hear most often, the people who are most offended, [7:42] actually, by all these things being done. [7:45] It's not just health care. [7:46] I mean, you look at some of the places in our state. [7:50] For example, Los Angeles, East Los Angeles. [7:51] I remember a roundtable with families of all ages there, [7:58] Mexican heritage, Mexican-Americans, [7:59] and some of them were people, [8:01] whose grandparents came. [8:03] And they're all different stories. [8:05] But they were united with what, [8:07] and I asked them in a very open way. [8:09] I didn't try and steer them in one direction or other. [8:11] I said, look, we've got all this conversation going on [8:14] about immigration, deportation, ICE, all those things. [8:18] What do you think? [8:19] And it was incredible to hear the real anger, actually, [8:24] at what they perceived as unfairness. [8:27] We came here the right way. [8:29] We did it the right way. [8:30] We worked really hard. [8:31] We didn't get anything handled. [8:32] We didn't get anything handed to us on a plate. [8:34] Now you go down to the grocery store, [8:36] you see illegal immigrants who shouldn't be here. [8:38] They've got EBT cards given to them for free. [8:42] They have free cell phones. [8:44] Now they're getting their rent paid. [8:45] How do you define that they shouldn't be here? [8:47] Well, they're illegally here. [8:48] I mean, there are issues with our country's immigration system. [8:52] I think both parties have acknowledged that. [8:54] So how are you determining who should, [8:56] I mean, for undocumented people who are working [8:58] and contributing to at least the state society, [9:00] Yeah. [9:01] How are you determining? [9:02] Well, if you're not on a visa or a work permit [9:07] or a green card or a citizen, you're not here legally. [9:10] So there's a legal definition. [9:13] So it's not my determination. [9:15] It's the federal immigration law that determines that. [9:19] But I think you're completely right. [9:21] Everyone can see, and it goes back a long way. [9:23] At least 50 years, people would agree, [9:25] we've had a completely broken immigration system. [9:29] And we've ended up, especially in California, [9:32] with a situation where you've got millions of people here, [9:36] illegally, living and working in the shadows, [9:39] as some people describe it. [9:41] And I think the idea that you've got mass law breaking, [9:45] that's what it is, it's breaking the law. [9:47] I mean, the clue is in the name, illegal immigration. [9:51] That's against the law. [9:53] And the fact that we've, in a way, [9:54] tolerated mass law breaking on this scale, [9:58] and it's become integrated into our economy and our society, [10:02] in this way, I think that's really corrosive [10:05] of a society's basic values. [10:09] We just can't have that. [10:11] And we've got to have a reckoning, I think, [10:13] with the fact that this system has been moving [10:18] in the wrong direction for so long. [10:19] Now, part of it is stopping the problem getting worse, [10:22] controlling the border. [10:23] And that's already, to a certain extent, [10:26] happened pretty strongly with this new Trump administration, [10:30] where the numbers of illegal crossings, [10:32] these are just barely existent, [10:35] the lowest we've seen for decades. [10:37] So that part of it, it's not, at least in some senses, [10:39] the problem's not getting worse, [10:41] but we do have a problem here at home as well. [10:43] So just to circle back to the original question, [10:45] I mean, there are more than one million undocumented people [10:48] on Medi-Cal right now. [10:49] Yeah. [10:50] They lose their health insurance [10:51] under a governor, Steve Hilton. [10:52] Yes. [10:53] Is it cheaper for the state to just have all, [10:56] more than one million of those people go to the ER? [10:58] Well, other states do. [10:59] I mean, here, what the offer, [11:03] those people that Gavin Newsom brags about, [11:05] by the way, it's important to note, [11:08] this is something that at the national level, [11:10] Democrats are against and actually say can't even happen [11:14] because it's illegal. [11:16] You saw that with the conversation [11:17] around the government shutdown, the last one, last year, [11:21] where in the Congress, Republicans were saying, [11:28] the government's being shut down [11:29] because Democrats object to us making sure that Medicaid [11:34] money across the country isn't spent on illegal immigrants. [11:38] You had Hakeem Jeffries, Chuck Schumer, [11:40] all the leaders saying, that's not true. [11:42] That would never happen. [11:44] It can't happen. [11:45] It's illegal. [11:46] We're completely against Medicaid funding, [11:49] healthcare for illegal immigrants. [11:50] That's national Democrats. [11:52] So here, Gavin Newsom brags about it. [11:55] He says, great. [11:56] He's proud that he's extended it. [11:58] Of course, he had to rein it in because there was an outcry [12:01] at the scale of the spending, way, way bigger, [12:05] than he anticipated. [12:07] But I think in this instance, [12:10] the Democrats at the national level are right. [12:13] We shouldn't be doing that. [12:14] Other states deal with this problem in a different way. [12:17] They don't offer what's called full scope Medicaid. [12:20] So there's a limited version of Medicaid [12:22] that is offered in other states. [12:24] And I think that's what we should do here. [12:25] Okay, so you would consider a limited scope [12:27] for undocumented people? [12:29] Well, it's not the full scope Medicaid, exactly. [12:32] Other states do it that way. [12:33] So you're not, so you wouldn't have, [12:35] you wouldn't have the expansion that happened in, [12:38] I would reverse to be really clear. [12:40] Yes, I would reverse all of the expansion [12:43] that Gavin Newsom has put in over the last, [12:45] was it six or seven years, in stages. [12:47] Okay, switching gears to education, [12:49] you mentioned this earlier. [12:50] I mean, nearly half of the state's budget [12:53] goes toward education, [12:54] but we're seeing these teacher strikes. [12:56] You mentioned the classroom performance issues [12:58] in terms of students and their inability [13:01] or they're struggling to read, do math and science. [13:04] How will you manage that? [13:05] As governor. [13:06] So we've got to focus on the practical aspects of this. [13:10] And again, I think it's really important to learn [13:12] from other places that are doing a better job. [13:15] And most places are doing a better job than California. [13:18] I mean, look at the amount that's spent. [13:19] We spent about 20, I think the latest number [13:22] is $27,000 a year per student, California public schools. [13:27] The average private school fee in California is 19,000. [13:32] So when you hear the teacher unions and others say, [13:34] oh, we need more money. [13:35] Well, we've got a lot of money in the system, [13:38] but it's not delivering the results. [13:40] A lot of the time, I think that the conversation [13:42] around schools gets a little distant [13:45] from the immediate needs of kids and students [13:48] in our classrooms today. [13:49] And people talk about long-term changes like school choice, [13:52] which I'm very much in favor of, [13:54] but we got to do something about what's happening today. [13:57] So one state that has done a really good job [14:00] and it's got a lot of attention is Mississippi. [14:03] Mississippi has shot up to the top of the list. [14:03] Mississippi has shot up to the top of the list. [14:05] And it's the top of the rankings on schools [14:08] by doing some simple practical things. [14:10] Number one, everyone agrees that you can't learn [14:14] if you can't read. [14:16] And the plan that I put out actually [14:17] before the attention Mississippi got in recent months, [14:20] I did this last summer, is making sure [14:24] that every student learns to read by the end of grade three. [14:27] If you can't read by the end of third grade, [14:30] you've not got the opportunity to learn properly [14:33] in the rest of your education. [14:35] And so we've got to make sure that happens. [14:37] If it doesn't happen, then this is what Mississippi does. [14:42] If you're by the end of third grade, [14:44] you don't read to the basic standards. [14:46] They give you help over the summer and test you again. [14:50] And if you still can't read by the end of that extra help, [14:53] you repeat the grade. [14:54] And I saw Gavin Newsom asked about this recently. [14:58] And he was very against it. [14:59] He said, well, it's holding kids back. [15:02] It's holding them back so they can learn to read and benefit [15:05] from their education. [15:06] And so that is a very simple change [15:08] that we could and should make. [15:09] Another one is making sure we're using the right techniques [15:13] to teach kids to read. [15:14] This is a debate that was going on in policy circles [15:17] decades ago. [15:19] What's the best way to teach kids to read? [15:21] And there's a methodology called phonics, just a literal way [15:25] of teaching kids to read, that's been widely adopted [15:27] in most places in the world. [15:29] In California, most public schools don't use it. [15:32] They use other systems that don't work, [15:34] and you can see the results. [15:35] So that's another change we can make. [15:37] Make sure that phonics is the method we [15:40] use to teach kids to read. [15:42] Another thing is the importance of clarity and transparency [15:46] and accountability about what's going on in the schools. [15:49] The teacher unions over the years [15:51] have tried to obscure the performance [15:54] of individual schools and individual teachers. [15:57] I think that's ridiculous. [15:58] It's so important that we make sure [16:00] that we've got the good teachers who are there, are rewarded, [16:05] and encouraged, and we want to have more of them. [16:07] But teachers who are not doing the job, [16:09] they need to be removed from the system. [16:11] We can't have them in front of kids year after year [16:14] if they're not up to the job. [16:16] And so another specific thing we can do with the information [16:20] we already have available is get that information out there, [16:24] a letter grade, a simple letter grade, [16:27] for every school and every teacher. [16:29] And if we see that a school is years in a row getting an F [16:35] grade, failing, then we've got to make changes. [16:38] Maybe replace the principal. [16:39] Maybe convert to a charter school. [16:41] There's lots of things we could do. [16:42] But you can't do any of that if you [16:44] don't have the proper information about what's [16:46] actually happening in the classroom. [16:48] You have a lot of ideas on this as governor. [16:51] There's a proposal right now from Governor Gavin Newsom [16:53] to essentially strip the Department of Education [16:56] from the elected position of superintendent, which [16:58] California voters will choose. [17:00] Is that something you're in favor of, [17:02] essentially getting more power under the governor's office [17:04] for education? [17:05] Well, we've got a really great candidate [17:08] for superintendent of education, Sonia Shaw. [17:10] And I agree with her on many things. [17:13] And so I'd love to see her in that role. [17:15] And my attitude is, in a way, I just [17:19] want to make sure the changes happen, [17:21] whether that's through the governor's office, Department [17:23] of Education, the state superintendent's office. [17:26] We've got to get the changes happen. [17:28] So I'm more focused on the outcomes [17:29] than the kind of how it's structured and organized [17:32] in Sacramento. [17:33] Switching gears, I think what everyone wants to know [17:35] is, how would a governor, Steve Hilton, [17:37] lower costs for Californians? [17:39] Well, that is the focus of my entire campaign. [17:42] So we're doing these town halls up and down the state. [17:45] You've got hundreds of people coming each time. [17:47] We've got a really great energy there. [17:49] And the theme of it is one word, actually, Cal-affordable, [17:53] my plan to make our state Cal-affordable. [17:55] And the headlines are very simple. [17:59] We can dive into the details if you like. [18:00] But number one, we have to end the climate. [18:05] We need to end the climate. [18:07] And the climate is a very important part of that. [18:09] Because we're talking about extremism [18:11] on fossil fuels that have given us the gas prices that [18:15] are the highest in the country. [18:16] So stop the climate goals. [18:17] Yeah. [18:18] Like, completely get rid of them. [18:19] Well, no, you need common sense climate goals, not the extreme [18:22] and totally insane climate goals. [18:24] I'll give you an example right now, which [18:26] is that in the name of climate, they've [18:28] shutting down our California oil and gas production. [18:31] So it's now about, we're now importing about 80% of the oil [18:35] and gas that we use. [18:35] It means that because we are shipping it halfway around the world for our number one provider of oil right now [18:41] I used to be California used to be in state. I've been to the oil fields down in Kern County now [18:47] It's Iraq. We are buying. We're the number one buyer of oil from the Amazon rainforest [18:53] How does that help the climate? [18:54] We're actually increasing carbon emissions because of this policy because the super tankers that are shipping the oil [19:00] They run on the dirtiest fuel that we have bunker fuel is cool [19:04] So number one we're going to get rid of all of that and and and the changes I can make as governor include [19:11] Changes to the regulatory agency that regulates oil and gas production. So we open that up. So we increase our production here [19:18] That means the refineries not all of them, but some of some of them it's too late to keep them open others [19:23] Hopefully we can keep open because that will help and so my goal is three dollar gas. That's the first line [19:29] We're gonna three dollar gas [19:31] So if we start drilling for more oil [19:34] Yeah, we don't have that much refining capacity and we've heard from the oil industry [19:38] It's really expensive to try to get these refiners up and going again. How will you well, I mean very close conversation with them [19:45] I'm talking to them the whole time [19:46] They're very aware of my plans and that and I'm getting their feedback on the plans because I want to make sure that we do [19:52] the whole point of this is to lower gas prices by by [19:57] Reviving California production. There's a huge new discovery off the coast sable oil [20:03] Which has been controversial? [20:04] in the last few couple of weeks because the federal government has has given the green light to [20:10] Sending over through a pipeline there that the Gavin Newsom and the Democrats here are dead against that's now the second biggest [20:17] Oil reserve in America. It's huge for our future in California [20:22] Some critics would say sable broke the law though. However many years ago that stemmed from the closure [20:26] Well, you can argue about what happened in the past, but I'm interested in like how do we get gas prices down? [20:31] How do we create good jobs and opportunity for us in California? [20:34] Also the tax revenue that comes from that so we I don't think there's a choice [20:38] It just here's a very simple way of putting it surely [20:40] It makes sense that as long as we are using oil and gas in California [20:45] Let's to the maximum extent we can use California oil and gas before we import it from other countries [20:52] I think everyone would agree pretty much that that's a common-sense position and that would be my position and that will really help us [20:58] Get gas prices down along with some other changes like I mean we got to make some changes to what they now call the [21:04] Cap-and-invest program the low-carbon fuel standard [21:07] There's a whole there's a huge amount of regulations that do nothing for the environment do nothing for to lower global temperatures [21:15] Literally nothing and yet all they're doing is causing massive pain [21:20] Especially for working-class California's you have to drive their cars and trucks hours a day [21:24] They're the ones paying for all of this not the climate war is you know, it's tapping away at their [21:30] MacBooks working from home. It's working-class Californians [21:33] And so that's the first [21:34] Point of my plan for making our state Cal affordable is three dollar gas the second electric bills with gas [21:41] We have the highest cost in the country of any state with electric [21:45] We're the highest everywhere except for Hawaii [21:48] Electric bills have more than doubled in the last ten years the direct result of Democrat climate policies where they have again [21:56] Flies in the face of common sense. We've got gas-fired power stations in California that could run on [22:03] California natural gas that we produce here and provide us with affordable reliable electricity instead [22:10] They they're they're dialing that down so that the gas-fired power stations now only are there to provide backup [22:17] For wind and solar all the emphasis is on wind and solar. It's unreliable [22:22] Incredibly expensive when you take all the costs into account and it doesn't make sense [22:26] So if we make that change in a common sense direction to have let I don't [22:33] Want to see any more of these with the the windmill strategy in California is totally insane [22:38] But what about these companies that invested in all of that? [22:41] I mean under this promise that California was going in this direction. Did you just say sorry you're out of luck [22:47] Well, the with the Democrats have no problem saying to the oil companies [22:51] That they should shut down. I mean look we've got to do what's right for the people of California [22:56] Affordable reliable electricity is is a basic that we need for our it's not just for people paying their bills at home [23:02] But every all these other prices go all the other costs go up when energy costs are really high because of course that factors into [23:10] Construction costs gross your grocery bill that we have the highest grocery bills in the country energy costs are a big part of that [23:17] So that's number two. So number one is three dollar gas number two [23:21] If we do just the common sense things on [23:24] Electricity generation that other states do we can get back to a more reasonable level now as I said [23:29] We're more than double the national average [23:31] So my my goal is [23:32] Cut your electric bills in half the third one we touched on it earlier, which is reducing spending so we can cut taxes [23:39] My priority there is again working-class [23:42] Californians who really being hurt the most and so my tax plan starts with your first hundred grand tax-free [23:49] Then we the fourth point on my plan [23:52] We also discussed which is people who make a hundred grand [23:55] Yes would not have taxes state income state income taxes under governor Steve Hilton, correct? Okay. Well, that's my proposal [24:01] so [24:02] That would be in my first budget and that goes to the legislature and as you know better than anyone [24:07] That's a whole process, but I'd love to see the Democrats stand against cutting taxes for working people [24:13] That would be an interesting one. The fourth one we talked about which is [24:17] lowering health care costs by [24:21] Stopping illegal immigrants getting full-scope Medicaid and then the fourth one [24:24] I'm sorry, the fifth is a home you can afford to buy now. That is a massive issue as you know some simple [24:31] Points on how I will reduce housing costs is number one the building codes way too complicated [24:37] They get more and more onerous every year makes the cost of construction much higher in California than in neighboring states [24:44] We can reform that secondly ending this war on single-family homes [24:48] They're right now all of the policy of the government in California is about [24:54] stopping any construction from happening outside of where we've currently got development going on and that's [25:01] That makes the cost of land that much higher because you're restricting where you can build and [25:06] It means that you've got endless arguments about that with Yimby's and NIMBY's and lawsuits. It slows everything down makes it more expensive [25:13] We've got so much space in this state that we could build the kind of single-family homes that people want to live in [25:19] Especially when they they start a family. So that's the fits a home you can afford to buy. What about on homelessness? [25:25] What's your plan there to help Californians feel like people are off the streets? It's first of all, you just gotta acknowledge [25:30] This is a massive scandal. I mean people talk about the homelessness crisis [25:35] It's much worse than that. The fact that this has gone on for so long. It's shameful [25:38] I mean you notice it when people come here from other states or from other countries and [25:43] Stuff that we've almost taken for granted because we see it every day and it's become part of life and you see it through the [25:49] Eyes of someone who's seeing it for the first time and they just can't believe it [25:53] Like Gavin Newsom goes on about we're the fourth biggest economy in the world. Everything's so great. Look at these third world scenes of squalor [26:00] I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know [26:01] in our cities, it's totally unacceptable all of it [26:04] And so he brags about we've reduced homelessness by nine percent, which is a number that's on dispute [26:09] Anyway, we should reduce it by a hundred percent. It's unacceptable [26:13] the first point in the plan is to enforce the law every homeless encampment that anyone watching will see it's [26:20] Illegal it's against the law to live and camp on the streets and you've got to enforce the law [26:26] So you send them to jail? No, not at all [26:28] That's the point. Number one is remove the homeless encampments [26:31] comenzie bat Shinyeth [26:31] If you're still there living in those conditions, you're never going to have the chance to get your life back on track. [26:37] What chance do you have? [26:38] But where do they go? [26:40] Number two, we have to get people into treatment because the data now shows I've spent a lot of time working with some of the people [26:49] who are really doing the very, very difficult work of helping homeless people get their lives back on track. [26:55] Over 80% of people experiencing homelessness either have drug or alcohol addiction. [27:02] Now, it doesn't matter in a sense whether they became homeless because of their addiction or they became addicted because of being homeless. [27:09] The fact is, as long as they're addicted, they're not going to get their lives back on track. [27:14] Last year, the Democrat supermajority in the legislature passed a bill called the Sober Housing Act, [27:21] which would have required that 10% of the state's homelessness budget, [27:25] be allocated to shelter where getting into drug or alcohol addiction treatment is a condition of the shelter. [27:35] I want to see that at 100%. [27:37] We have to get people off drugs and alcohol, and it cannot be optional. [27:41] It has to be mandatory. [27:43] Number three, mental health provision. [27:45] I saw the governor talking about this, I think it was last week. [27:48] It's a total scam what's been going on. [27:50] He passed his flagship ballot initiative in March 2024. [27:55] Six billion dollars or whatever it was that was supposed to end this problem. [27:59] That ballot initiative, which barely got through, actually cut mental health spending at the county level. [28:07] You're talking about Proposition 1. [28:08] Yes, exactly, March 24. [28:10] So, we've got to restore county budgets for mental health and increase provision there. [28:15] And there's a very small, it's big, but technical change that needs to happen on homelessness when it comes to mental health. [28:21] I mean, right now, again, it's barbaric what's going on. [28:24] Most... [28:25] We've talked to sheriffs. [28:27] Most county jails, I mean, a sheriff in one of the counties told me that half the people in his jails have severe mental health problems. [28:36] Someone else told me that there's a way, if you want to know what's the biggest mental institution in the country, L.A. County Jail. [28:43] It's outrageous. [28:44] And the number of beds just isn't there. [28:48] One of the reasons is that we've got this Medicaid reimbursement rule. [28:52] It's called the IMD rule, Institutions of Mental Disease. [28:55] Which means that, it's been there since the beginning of Medicaid, which means that you don't get reimbursed for mental health care provided in any facility with more than 16 beds. [29:04] It's a very specific limit. [29:05] The first Trump administration created a waiver from that program so that you could have modern, large-scale mental health facilities which are efficient and compassionate and treat people properly. [29:18] And imagine if hospitals couldn't have more than 16 beds, how inefficient that would be. [29:23] So, there's lots of things we can do. [29:24] There's lots of things we can do to make sure that we increase capacity for people with severe mental health problems. [29:30] Okay. [29:31] We're running out of time, so I have a few quick questions for you. [29:33] This one's an important one. [29:34] How will you represent Californians who are not part of your political party? [29:37] Oh, I'm here for every Californian. [29:40] I mean, I think the most, it takes me back to our very first conversation soon after I entered the race. [29:47] And I said, my platform is not a partisan platform. [29:50] It's very pragmatic. [29:51] But do you want Donald Trump to endorse you? [29:53] I've said I'd be very, I'd be honored to have him. [29:55] I think he's got his endorsement. [29:56] I think he's got other things on his mind right now than the California governor's race. [30:00] But my, no, my entire plan is non-ideological. [30:05] It's not, it's about, it's $3 gas. [30:08] Cut your electric bills in half. [30:09] Your first 100 grand tax-free, a home you can afford to buy. [30:12] These are things that are there for every Californian. [30:14] And I have experienced, most of my career, as I mentioned, is in business. [30:18] I did work for a while in the government in the U.K., senior advisor to the prime minister. [30:23] He was a conservative prime minister. [30:24] But it was a coalition government. [30:26] And so I'm used to working across the aisle. [30:28] I shared an office right next to the cabinet room with my opposite number from a different party. [30:32] And so I think that, you know, the job is to make life better for everybody who lives in this state. [30:38] And that will be how I operate as governor. [30:41] What grade would you give Governor Gavin Newsom for his last two terms? [30:44] F, the lowest possible. [30:46] It's a total disaster. [30:47] I mean, let's just go through it. [30:49] Highest poverty rate. [30:50] We don't have a ton of time. [30:51] Highest unemployment rate. [30:52] Highest cost of living. [30:53] Total failure on every front. [30:55] Three words for the future of California under a Governor Stephen Hilton. [31:00] Cal-affordable. [31:05] Build. [31:11] We've got to build again. [31:12] Opportunity. [31:15] All right. [31:17] Steve Hilton, thank you so much for your time. [31:18] Great to be with you. [31:19] Thank you.