OM DENNE EPISODE
Guest
Fiona Ma, California State Treasurer
Guest Bio
Fiona Ma is California's State Treasurer, overseeing the state's debt portfolio, investment pool, and savings programs including CalSavers, CalABLE, and the ScholarShare 529 plan. A CPA by training, Ma has held five elected offices over three decades: San Francisco Board of Supervisors, State Assembly, State Board of Equalization, and two terms as Treasurer. She is currently running for Lieutenant Governor against Republican Gloria Romero in the November 2026 general election.
Show Summary
California ranks dead last among all 50 states for business climate, according to the latest Chief Executive magazine survey of CEOs. In this episode of State of Gold, host Jon Slavet sits down with State Treasurer Fiona Ma to ask what she would do about it if elected Lieutenant Governor in November 2026.
Ma, who spent her pre-government career as a real estate tax accountant advising businesses on where to locate, makes the case that California has failed to create meaningful incentives to attract or retain companies. Texas now has more Fortune 500 headquarters than California, and Ma says the state government's lack of outreach to business leaders is a core part of the problem.
The conversation covers a wide range of policy ground: the $1,600 per acre tax burden crushing family farmers, a wine grape surplus with no market, the cannabis industry (where 60% of sales are now illegal due to tax rates as high as 40%), the philosophical debate over billions in state spending on undocumented residents while citizens struggle with affordability, and Ma's work launching the Early Wealth Partnership Navigator with Google.org to help families access savings programs. Ma also signals openness to a California flat tax, calling the current system too complicated for ordinary taxpayers.
Chapters
00:00 - Cold Open: "I Used to Advise Companies to Leave California"
00:15 - Welcome: Fiona Ma on the Lieutenant Governor Race
00:30 - Resume vs. Policy: The Contrast with Gloria Romero
01:29 - Agriculture Deep Dive: 250 Farm Tours and Counting
02:53 - The $65 Billion Ag Industry Under Siege
03:19 - $1,600 Per Acre: The Tax Burden on Family Farmers
04:00 - Wine Grapes With No Buyer: A Real Crisis Right Now
05:28 - CEO Survey: California Ranked #50
06:05 - What Incentives Does California Actually Have?
07:37 - Newsom's CEO Phone Calls and the Real Response
07:55 - Education: The LG Sits on UC, CSU, and Community College Boards
08:44 - Pell Grants, Cal Grants, and the 85% In-State Shift
09:51 - Student Housing Crisis: Living in Cars, Driving Hours
10:18 - Paid Internships: The RIT Model That Works
10:53 - Billions for Non-Citizens While Citizens Struggle
11:29 - Unintended Consequences: Emergency Rooms as Primary Care
12:17 - Cannabis Banking: An Obsession With Good Reason
12:56 - Auditing Dispensaries by Counting Cars in Parking Lots
14:14 - Ten Years Later, Still No Real Banking Access
14:50 - Revenues Down 30%: The Black Market Flourishes
15:53 - Cultivation Tax, Distribution Tax, Local Tax: The Full Stack
16:34 - 60% of the Market Is Illegal Products
17:20 - The Fix: Lower Taxes, Better Banking, Federal Action
18:51 - Supporting Kids and Families: The Early Wealth Navigator
20:12 - One Stop Shop: Why Families Shouldn't Need 10 Websites
21:43 - Queen for a Day: The Single Biggest Priority
22:28 - A California Flat Tax: Could It Work?
Connect with Fiona Ma
- X: https://x.com/fionama
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fionamacpa/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fionamacpa/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/fionama
- State Treasurer's Office (official site)
- Campaign website
Enjoyed the episode? Subscribe to our podcast, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and join the conversation on Instagram and LinkedIn with the hashtag #stateofgoldpodcast
Connect with State of Gold
