This pretty much nailed it except the part about the national parks. It's the federal government that supports them, not California. For me, the national parks

This pretty much nailed it except the part about the national parks. It's the federal government that supports them, not California. For me, the national parks in the state is California's only real redeeming quality and it's just chance that this state ended up rich in national parks > it seems like your money is disappearing, but a lot of it is going to support families who make less than a third of your salary. I would also add that it wouldn't be necessary to support many of these families if they lived in other states. California's well-intentioned but poorly thought out policies directly contribute to why many of these families need support in the first place.