California Dignity Infrastructure Act Budget Surplus

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A bold new framework to guarantee housing, health, and safety for every Californian, tailored to your region, guided by your voice.

Statewide Core Protections (The Dignity Spine)

  • What it does:

    • 10% tax refund for renters who pay on time

    • 5% tax break and repair subsidies for small landlords

    • 2% statewide rent cap to prevent exploitation

    Who pays:
    Redirected funds from California’s $50B police/prison budget
    (No new costs for renters or landlords)

    Impact:
    Stabilizes housing. Rewards responsibility. No loopholes. Helps both renters and ethical property owners.

  • What it does:

    • Funds home retrofits in high-risk areas

    • Brings in teams of experts and local residents to design the most effective regional protection plans

    • Builds rooftop sprinkler systems, defensible buffers, and safety upgrades that help stop fires from spreading

    • Supports community-led planning and animal protection, not just cleanup after disaster

    Who pays:

    FEMA match + climate fee on major corporate utility users (not residential customers)

    Impact:

    $850M cost

    $600M savings

    Protects people, homes, animals, and ecosystems

  • What it does:

    • Investigates illegal detentions, ICE raids, racial profiling, and home invasions

    • Provides legal aid, record clearing, and reparations

    • Hosts public truth tribunals

    Who pays:
    Redirected funds from agencies with documented abuses
    No new taxes

    Impact:
    $350M cost, fully offset
    Restores truth and trust. Ends impunity.

  • Detention is unnecessary. It’s expensive and cruel. Most folks show up to court without being detained.

    What it does:

    • Shuts down private ICE detention facilities

    • Cuts all state funding for ICE collaboration

    Who pays:
    No one. We stop paying harmful contracts
    Saves money

    Impact:
    Saves $179.6M/year
    Protects immigrants. Stops unlawful targeting.

  • What it does:

    • Frees wrongfully imprisoned people

    • Redirects prison/police funds to youth jobs, trauma teams, and healing infrastructure

    • Launches Reparative Safety Corps

    Who pays:
    $4B shifted from prisons and CHP
    Supported by wealth surtax
    Creates a $2.9B annual surplus

    Impact:
    $3.5B cost
    $1.9B savings
    Turns punishment budgets into community protection

  • What it does:

    • 24/7 non-police mental health responders in every county

    • Reduces trauma, deaths, and unnecessary arrests

    Who pays:
    Surtax on ultra-wealthy Californians (top 0.01%)
    Not funded by working people

    Impact:
    $1B cost
    Saves $2.5B/year
    Keeps people safe, families stable

  • Criminalizing homelessness costs 2 to 4 times more than providing housing and support.

    What it does:

    • Builds modern, dignified housing with wraparound services for community college students and folks without shelter

    • Prioritizes stability, safety, and healing. Not punishment

    Who pays:
    Surtax on ultra-wealthy (income over $5M/year)

    Impact:
    $9.36B cost
    Saves $1.5B/year
    Reduces visible homelessness and emergency costs

  • What it does:

    • Adds a 2–4% tax on income over $5 million/year

    • Impacts only the wealthiest 0.01% of Californians

    Who pays:
    Only ultra-rich earners
    No effect on middle or working-class taxpayers

    Impact:
    Raises $10.5B/year
    Fully funds key safety, housing, and mental health systems

  • This entire plan costs about 32 billion per year and still ends up with a 5.9 billion surplus /year while protecting housing, mental health, fire safety, and dignity for everyone. It is fully covered by a mix of redirected spending, new revenue from a small tax on ultra wealthy income, and savings from ending harmful programs. With over 8 billion in savings, 10.5 billion in new revenue, and 19.24 billion reallocated from prison, police, and ICE contracts.