Policy Priorities

  • Easing the COST OF LIVING and Doing Business in California

  • Emphasizing PUBLIC SAFETY for All California Families

  • Tapping into Unparalleled ENERGY Capacity

  • Putting Parents in the Driver’s Seat of their Kids’ EDUCATION AND HEALTHCARE

  • Ensuring that CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS are Fair and Secure

Download America First California Summary

California embodies the pioneering spirit that anything is possible and that ours is a country of boundless hope and opportunity. This is what drove men and women past the Rockies and the Sierra Nevada Mountains, on covered wagons and against all odds, toward this land of milk and honey. The land itself began to represent something unconquerable in the human spirit, something that was uniquely and undeniably American.

Later still, drawn by stories of gold speckling the riverbeds, small towns started to form among old Spanish outposts. Orange groves crept up the coast. Trains and automobiles arrived, and oil derricks began to appear. Earthquakes came, but the brave people of California rebuilt. The cities grew bigger and wider and the freeways broader, and the people, with the horrors of two world wars behind them, sought warmth and the ocean. This time, they were driven by different dreams, but the indomitable American spirit was still at the heart of them.

And yet, at some point in the last 40 years, California lost its way. Unfortunately, burdensome regulations, crippling taxes, high energy costs, and even higher crime rates have become the norm. And sadly, departing businesses and abandoned storefronts now mark what was once the land of plenty. On top of all this, California is now witnessing an increasingly intolerant culture war waged against those who do not subscribe to certain ideologies.

Based on the belief that there is still hope for turning things around, the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), a nonprofit, non-partisan research institute that educates lawmakers and the American public on the policies that put America first, has founded a state chapter in California. Building on AFPI’s America First Agenda, AFPI-California is committed to the renewal of California. By embracing the policies that helped build California’s economy, this state can once again experience a bright new chapter.

Team

Mike Garcia

Chairman, America First California

June Cutter

Executive Director, America First California

Latest

Statement | July 22, 2026

AFPI California and Minnesota Back HHS Move to Verify $1 Billion in Medicaid Claims

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The America First Policy Institute's (AFPI) California and Minnesota chapters today released the following statements after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) deferred more than $1 billion in federal Medicaid payments to the two states, including roughly $867.5 million to California and $199 million to Minnesota, pending documentation that flagged claims meet federal requirements.
Statement | June 29, 2026

AFPI Congratulates Robert Lighthizer and Mike Garcia on Appointments to the Defense Policy Board

The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) proudly congratulates Robert Lighthizer, chair for American Trade at AFPI, and Mike Garcia, AFPI chairman of America First California on their appointments as chair and member, respectively, to the Defense Policy Board.
Statement | June 16, 2026

AFPI’s Kenneth Blackwell on Today’s Primary Elections Across the Country

America First Policy Institute Secure Elections Chairman J. Kenneth Blackwell today urges Americans to head to the polls as voters in Oklahoma, the District of Columbia, Alabama, Georgia, and California cast ballots in primaries, runoffs, and a special election, which will help set the choices voters face this November.
Op-Ed | May 21, 2026

Does California’s Sanctuary Law Make Everyone Less Safe?
News Release | May 15, 2026

Hispanic Leaders Affirm That the America First Agenda is Restoring Order and Humanity to the Immigration System

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Hispanic Leaders Affirm That the America First Agenda is Restoring Order and Humanity to the Immigration System

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State Health Policy Issue Brief: Increasing Hospital Price Transparency Compliance in States

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