Policy Priorities

  • Cost of Living

  • Public Safety

  • Election Integrity

  • Transportation/Energy

  • Public Education/Public Healthcare

Download America First California Summary

Our Nation is a land of dreams, and nowhere has this dream stirred the imagination more than the great state of California. 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, towards 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, 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

Latest

Op-Ed | April 8, 2025

Implement Fair Trade to protect American Security

In a utopian world, our nation would operate in free markets, with secure borders, and no fear of foreign regimes robbing, replicating, and replacing American-made goods.
Issue Brief | April 7, 2025

Immediate Action Needed Now To Clean Up Imperial Beach’s Man-made Environmental Disaster

Imperial Beach, California, is facing a massive environmental crisis. While its shores finally reopened last September after being closed for more than 1,000 days, it still faces intermittent closures. The reason? Mexico has failed to ensure proper waste management and sewage treatment in Tijuana, leading to massive cross-border pollution that continues to this day.
Fact Sheet | October 21, 2024

Importance of Citizen-Only Voting in California

The U.S. electoral system is designed to give every eligible U.S. citizen in every state a say in choosing our leaders at the federal, state, and local levels.
Fact Sheet | September 10, 2024

Ten Questions that Should be Asked at Tuesday’s Presidential Debate and the Candidates’ Track Record on them

Top 10 questions that should be asked of the candidates during the debate, and where each stand on the issues. Former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris present starkly different visions for America's future. Trump emphasizes energy independence through expanding fossil fuels, school safety via armed protection, and voting integrity with proof of citizenship. He supports a state's role in abortion law and prioritizes finishing the border wall. In contrast, Harris pushes for fossil fuel bans, removing armed officers from schools, and opposing strict voter ID laws.

Research Report | July 2, 2024

California’s Homeowner Insurance Market Freefall: Regulatory Folly Run Amok

California’s homeowner insurance market is in the grips of an urgent crisis as major insurers cancel existing policies, refuse to write new policies, and, in some cases, abandon the state’s insurance market entirely.

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