Malia Cohen Lays California’s Numbers Bare: The Power Is In The Books
State Controller Opens the Records on $33.1 Billion in Local Government Wages
The inauguration of California State Controller Malia Cohen in Sacramento, California on January 6, 2023. (Robert Maryland | California Black Media)
By Dr. Gloria Zuurveen
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
Taking a look at the report by Bo Tefu of California Black Media, I am very impressed with our California State Controller, Malia M. Cohen.
According to Tefu’s report, the numbers are laid bare for all to see—the majesty of numbers, especially when it comes to California’s economy, government payroll and public spending.
Controller Cohen is on point, and the numbers do not lie.
At least these numbers are hard, fast and available for the people to examine for themselves.
California local governments paid more than $33.1 billion in wages to approximately 751,117 public employees during 2025.
Nearly $26 billion went toward regular pay, $3.6 billion was paid in overtime, approximately $675.8 million was paid in lump-sum compensation, and nearly $2.9 billion was listed as other pay.
Employers also contributed nearly $9 billion toward employee retirement and healthcare benefits. When the wages, benefits and other reported compensation are brought together, the total reaches nearly $94.4 billion.
Those are not little numbers.
Those are California numbers.
The dollars and how they are distributed make a difference.
Behind every number is a worker, a family, a department, a public service and a community depending on the government to operate with honesty and efficiency.
Payroll is not simply money written on a page. Payroll represents people—the recipients of economic leverage, dignity and humanity.
It is the ability to pay rent, purchase food, raise children, receive healthcare, prepare for retirement and keep money circulating within local communities.
That is why transparency matters.
“Public trust starts with public information,” Controller Cohen said while announcing the updated Government Compensation in California database.
Malia Cohen
She is right.
The public deserves to know how its dollars are collected, where they are going, who is receiving them and whether every city and county is reporting accurately. Controller Cohen is not merely counting money.
She is opening the books and allowing Californians to look inside.
That is the power of an elected official who understands the responsibility of keeping California’s books.
She is not keeping the books for only one city. She is helping account for one of the greatest states in the nation—a state containing Los Angeles, Inglewood, Beverly Hills, Hollywood, San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento and communities stretching from the northern border to the southern border.
Look at California and you will see what is in it.
Revenue is flowing. Billions of dollars are gathered together and distributed through cities, counties, agencies and departments according to the services they are required to provide.
Police officers, firefighters, electrical workers, port employees, administrators, healthcare workers and thousands of other public employees are reflected in these records.
The searchable database gives the public an opportunity to compare agencies, review job classifications, examine benefits and download payroll information for independent analysis It also reveals when government agencies fail to comply. According to the report, 16 cities and one county either failed to submit the required information or submitted incomplete payroll data, even though California law requires local governments to report employee compensation annually to the Controller’s Office.
That is exactly why we need a Controller who is willing to keep watch.
A dollar unreported is a question unanswered.
A department that fails to disclose its numbers weakens public confidence.
But when the records are placed before the people, accountability has a chance to stand up, speak out and do its job.
California leads the pack because California is a state that takes chances. It builds, invests, creates, regulates, innovates and keeps moving forward. It takes chances even while knowing the ground beneath it may shake.
Yes, California has earthquakes.
But California also has an economy strong enough to shake the nation.
It is a state where billions of dollars move through government systems, public institutions and local economies.
That movement must be tracked, counted and made visible. When the numbers are visible, the public can ask better questions. When the public asks better questions, government must provide better answers.
Controller Malia Cohen is showing Californians that numbers are not merely cold calculations. Numbers tell a story.
They tell us what government values.
They tell us where the money is going.
They tell us who is benefiting.
They tell us whether public promises are being supported by public dollars.
And they tell us whether our elected officials are watching the store.
In this case, California’s Controller is watching the books, opening the records and giving the people access to the numbers that belong to them.
That is leadership.
That is accountability.
That is economic power laid bare for all to see.
And that is The Southern Truth.
