Amid regular reports in conservative media about the exodus of jobs and people from California, the state’s affordability challenges, and its widespread homelessness, it might be tempting to write off California or regard its future as bleak.
But to paraphrase Ronald Reagan, there is nothing wrong with California that what is right with California cannot fix.
For starters, California epitomizes how free market capitalism has led to abundant prosperity and opportunity. This is especially true in the tech sector and its myriad of companies driving economic growth.
Dynamic, innovative companies like Apple, Alphabet (Google), NVIDIA, and Meta are headquartered in California, to name just a few. The state is also America’s leader for venture capital investing, with 31 percent of deals and 62 percent of all venture capital funds in 2025 according to PitchBook, a publication of the National Venture Capital Association.
Prosperity through free-market competition and innovation is in the state’s DNA, however much these principles are now under attack through California’s abundant and often heavy-handed regulations.
On April 20, a public policy green shoot was evident when the California State Senate put the brakes on a notable proposal that would have changed the Internet as we know it, and benefited few except some special interests in the tech sector.
At issue was Senate Bill 1074, the Blocking Anticompetitive Self-preference by Entrenched Dominant platforms, or BASED Act. Introduced by Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), the measure would have led to wholesale changes in how large-scale e-commerce websites list products.
The upshot is that navigating these sites (e.g., Amazon Prime and Google) would have become more time consuming, given unpopular and even suspect brands more prominent listings, and opened the door to frivolous lawsuits against the large platforms.
The testimony of Mr. Jarek Sobe, an immigrant and co-founder and co-owner of Lucky Feet Shoes, who uses Google’s business tools, was especially compelling. “SB 1074 might help Yelp compete against Google, but that doesn’t help me or the millions of small businesses in California trying to keep their doors open.”
In speaking about the benefits of a free Google business profile along with Google analytics and ads, Sobe added, “It just means we would have to pay more just to be noticed.”
According to the 2025 Google Economic Impact Report, more than 2.2 million California businesses used Google’s tools last year at no cost to receive phone calls, bookings, reviews, requests for directions, or other direct connections to their customers.
Senators on the Democratically controlled committee expressed many concerns, including how the bill will make familiar searches more time-consuming and confusing. This happened in the European Union following its adoption of a similar measure, the Digital Markets Act.
There were also many concerns that, with gatekeepers having to allow unvetted sellers onto their websites, this could impede privacy and pose online security threats. Several Senators saw the measure as simply unfeasible because of its many far-ranging ramifications and potential unintended consequences. One Senator pointed out these likely issues, emphasizing that half of Californians use Amazon Prime.
Senator Wiener, while acknowledging the bill’s complexity, added he was open to amendments, while continually emphasizing it was April and not August, implying there was time for such factors to be worked out. Of note, Senator Wiener introduced the bill on February 13, 2026.
Following this thorough discussion, the Senate Committee on Privacy, Digital Technologies, and Consumer Protection refused to move the measure forward, in a 3-3 vote. The committee has seven democrats and two republicans.
What is perhaps even more disturbing is that the U.S. Senate may consider similar national legislation via the potential reintroduction of the America Innovation and Choice Online Act. The U.S. Senators considering sponsoring the legislation would be well served by listening to and studying the issues at the April 20 committee hearing.
These Senators’ constituents, as well as Californians and the rest of the country, will be better off for that and for both measures being halted.
