- Welcome to "Inland Edition", where we have conversations with people who make decisions that affect our everyday lives.

My name is Joe Richardson.

I'm a local attorney, an Inland Empire resident, and your host.

And today, we're going to chat with California's state controller.

The daughter of a social worker and a telecommunications worker [background music] and the eldest of five sisters, Malia Cohen was born and raised in San Francisco.

During her career in public service, she's introduced successful gun control legislation and authored legislation barring employers and landlords from requiring applicants to state criminal history.

In her present capacity, she serves on 70 commissions and boards with authority ranging from affordable housing, to crime victim compensation, to land management.

As the chief fiscal officer of the world's fourth largest economy, she's focused, she's driven, and she's enthusiastic, and it's time to meet her now.

[gentle upbeat music] ♪ ♪ ♪ I am happy to have California State Controller, Malia Cohen, with us.

Madam Controller, how are you?

- I'm doing wonderful.

Thank you, Joe.

- Thank you for being here.

- [Malia] My pleasure.

- So, let's start.

We wanna build the house a little bit.

- Alright.

- And, as it pertains to you getting involved in leadership, public service, elected office, was there, like, a aha moment?

- Yes!

- Okay.

When was that?

- So, there's some-- there's several of them.

- [Joe] Okay!

- But, the earliest memory, the earliest aha moment really started for me when I was eight.

- Okay.

- I was in the third grade.

It's actually a timely story since Senator Feinstein has passed away because she was the mayor of San Francisco and she spoke to my third grade class about the importance of public service.

- Oh, my gosh.

- So, you can imagine eight-year-old me on a field trip.

We were doing what we called a tour of San Francisco.

So, we went to a lot of the San Francisco different landmarks.

City hall was one of them.

And, she happened to be coming out of her office and we were coming up the grand staircase and our paths crossed.

And, she just took a couple minutes.

She just introduced herself.

She told about her job on the board of supervisors, she shared about her work as mayor and she said the best job she ever had was in public service.

And, she said maybe somebody in this class would consider running for office.

And, I'm telling you, that is what planted the seed in me to run for office.

So, the first office I ever ran for was student body president later on that year!

- Okay.

Wow.

- And, I won.

So, so far I have a good streak!

- Oh!

You opened with student body president?

- No, no.

Class president.

I started third grade class president.

But, it was that pivotal aha moment when I met Mayor Dianne Feinstein.

And then, over time, you know, my political awareness began to grow.

I did informational interviews with members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

And, there was another moment where a gentleman was giving this interview and I remember walking away thinking if he could do it, I could do it!

(Joe laughing) I was thinking, there's nothing special.

I could do this.

(Joe laughing) I can do this job!

And so, ultimately, I ran in 2010.

I was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

And, it was a very contentious race.

And-- but we have been, we've had a strong winning streak ever since.

And so, I am fortunate to be living my life's purpose, doing the exact work that I feel like I am called to do.

- So, tell us how all of the things that you've done in politics-- you've been a field organizer- - Yeah.

- You've been legislative aide.

And then, held public offices before being in the public office that you're in now.

How do each of those inform what you do now?

- Well, you know?

I like to quote a popular poet by the name of Drake, you see.

- Oh, there you go!

- "Started from the bottom, and now I'm here!"

- Ah, yes.

- Okay?

Started from the bottom, like you said.

Legislative aide, volunteering on campaigns, working with labor unions.

Even when I-- going back to when I was an undergrad, I'm a graduate from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee.

And, I remember coming back my freshman year and just working on a campaign, and I was just tasked to walk up and down the hills of San Francisco.

- Sure.

- Now, let me tell you.

As fate would have it, I ultimately started the-- I was assigned to the southeast part of San Francisco.

And, that is ultimately where I represented when I ran for the Board of Supervisors so many years later.

So, I mean, there's some real, I think, divine intervention that's happening on my own career path and in my life.

But starting from, as an intern, working on campaigns, being hired, running certain elements of the campaign, being involved.

You know, you go to many events and you see people that are taking your coat and maybe handing you a drink ticket, handing you a name tag?

Well, that was me many years ago.

I was a confidential assistant for a guy named Gavin Newsom, who was the mayor of San Francisco.

So, certainly served in the administrative role.

And then, I went to graduate school.

I went to Carnegie Mellon and earned a master's degree in public policy and management, came out in 2008 and ran for office in 2010.

And so, when I talk about, like, really starting from the bottom, having that grassroot base made the difference 'cause I know every element, every level of this business that I'm in.

- First of all, I just love it when our guests quote Drake!

(both laughing) That's thing one.

I could quote Rakim, but nobody's here to see me!

So, let me ask you this.

I've heard a saying that "he who has the gold makes the rules."

- Mm.

- Maybe next to it is "he who controls the gold, "certainly has something to say about what happens with the gold."

And, you are the controller of the state of California.

The state of California, fifth largest economy on Earth.

So, tell us, what does the state controller do?

- You know, the state controller does many things.

Important functions, whether people realize it or not.

But ultimately, to sum it up, to make it really simple, it's an accounting position.

And, my job is to make sure that the dollars that are coming in, that the state treasurer, Fiona Ma- who I think was on the show earlier- when Fiona Ma brings money into the state of California, my job is to keep a record of it, and then to pay it out.

I am in charge of disbursements.

And, it is argued that this is the second most significant constitutional office function.

Now, Rob Bonta may have a different take on it and Eleni Kounalakis may have a different version of it!

But, it's important because it provides a counterbalance to all the spending that the legislature is doing and all the spending that the governor is doing.

I have the amazing ability to audit any program, any agency, anything that touches tax dollars.

So, it's a fiduciary role.

I'm the chief fiscal officer for the state of California.

And, it is argued that California is now the fourth largest economy in the world.

We have overtaken Germany.

(she laughs) - Proud of that.

- Germany was in that position.

And now, we are in that position.

So, when you think about that, what we are actually saying is, is the economy, the statewide economy for California is only fourth to the United States government, which is supreme.

Then, you have China and then you have Japan.

Though, these are nations.

Now you take that with the gross domestic product of the state of California and we are on that level.

And so, you need to have someone with a mind to pay attention to the numbers.

So, I lead a team of 1,400 employees, a little over 1,400 employees.

- I was gonna ask that.

- I sit on 70 different boards and commissions and really, in a fiduciary role.

I also sit on CalPERS and CalSTRS, which is the nation's largest pension fund.

So, we're talking about $760 billion of assets under management between these two retirement pension funds.

And so, my job is to make sure that state employees get paid, to make sure that retirees are getting their benefits and their payment, judges, those that are in an education.

And so, anyone that kind of touches and is receiving state dollars.

The other element is I chair the Franchise Tax Board.

Now, everybody knows about the Franchise Tax Board (Joe laughs) 'cause everyone should be paying their taxes!

- Sometimes for good reasons; sometimes for bad reasons!

(laughter) - Well, for whatever reason!

You could take comfort in knowing that I'm there making sure that the ship is steady, that everything is transparent and fair.

Now, I have campaigned on, and I brought this concept maybe more into a reality.

It's not a new concept.

It's equity.

Right?

When it comes to spending tax dollars, are we spending it fairly, equitably?

Is it transparent?

Do you know where your tax dollars are going?

When we talk about homelessness, we know there's a lot of money being spent on the homeless housing costs, but where is it going?

Who is getting what?

So, the controller is the one that is gonna be able to provide you this type of information.

And, it's really a broad topic.

I deal with the environment.

I sit on the state lands commission that has to deal with environmental policy.

Right here, we are in the Inland Empire.

So, not close to water, per se, but making sure that wind farms are up and operational; making sure that we're paying attention to the types of investment that we're making in communities just like the Inland Empire where we are right now.

- Yes, yes.

- Something new that's happening, a burgeoning business sector.

Lithium batteries, harvesting lithium is taking root here, right here in the Inland Empire.

So, I kind of have my eyes on what direction things are going financially for the health of the state of California, but also drilling down where businesses and nonprofits-- See?

A lot of nonprofits receive tax dollars and I'm sure you don't want them to be mismanaged.

Right?

So, this is a full-time, all the time job.

It's not even like a nine-to-five, right?

I'm comin' in and it's a lifestyle.

I love it.

I'm engaging with people, telling 'em what I'm doing, and hopefully inspiring women in particular to run for office.

- So, talk a little bit more about how you interface with local government.

Because, local government?

They have sales taxes and things like that, but they also have-- they also rely on state funding.

They ask for state funding.

And so-?

And, they depend on state funding.

So, talk about that a little bit because I know that, that would certainly "hit people where they are", as it were.

- Yeah!

- You know?

People that are in the local government and that understand local government because, or at least, that's their first exposure to government, their most prominent exposure is the one that they see in front of 'em every day.

- So, you know, one of the things that we do very well in the controller's office is perform an audit.

And, an audit really goes in and it tells you where your money is going, shows you if there are any gaps in service or leadership or controls.

Right?

I'm a control agency.

So, when counties come to me, it's usually when they're in trouble.

(chuckles) They're like, "Hey, listen.

Can you come in?

"Can you perform an audit on this program?

"Can you perform an audit "on our housing, our homeless dollars?"

So, it's not always the happy times when I step into a space, but we do provide a county the infrastructure that they may not have.

You know, all counties aren't equal.

Rural counties are very-- have a different need than, like, the urban counties.

So, I'm in a few counties much further north than where we are up by-- up in Sacramento, just providing them some oversight, some rules, and helping them keep their books and their records straight.

And, I come in and I provide this mostly for state tax dollars.

Now, this is not something that the average person would interact with my office on.

Something that the average person, your readers and listeners, what they'd be interested in is a program that we run for seniors.

And, that is a property tax postponement program.

And so, if you know of any seniors that are having trouble paying their property taxes-?

Now, we can't wipe the debt away from 'em.

We can't do that.

We're not magicians!

But, what we can do is create, help them create a timeline, help them create a payment plan that will make it easier for them 'cause they're on a fixed income.

Particularly coming out of COVID or coming outta this new life that COVID catapulted us into.

One more program that your viewers may be interested in is an unclaimed property.

Now, unclaimed property is-- - That's one of you guys' departments.

- [Malia] That is-- I love this.

- I know about that department!

- You do?

- Yes.

- Did you have any money?

- I have.

Not a lot, but like once or twice.

It feels good!

You know, even if you get- - It does!

- $6 or $7 you didn't know that you had.

- It does.

- That's good.

- So, let me tell your folks about what's going on here.

Unclaimed property.

We run this program.

There are-- there's $13 billion of just Californians' money that we're just holding for them.

- Wow.

- So, that is about seven-?

I think it's 7.6 million different items.

And so, when I'm talking about property, let me break it down for you, what I mean.

I'm talking about gold bullion.

I'm talking about diamonds.

I'm talking about tea sets.

It could be silver coins, could be heirlooms from wars, old maps; things that are really do have an assessed value that is in holding.

Oftentimes, relatives could pass away and people wouldn't know that they had a trust or that they're named in the trust.

Those-- that money, that-?

Those "notes"- what we call them?

It's held somewhere and it's held in our office.

Another example.

Say you put a down payment on an apartment back in...undergrad.

You finish graduate school, you finish undergrad and you move away.

You forget to collect your down payment.

- Wow.

- The state law requires these banking institutions, these people that are taking your money, when they don't have contact with you for three years or more, they turn it over to the state and then it becomes our custody.

So, people should go and check out this database.

There might be money there that they don't even know about.

You enter your name, you enter your address, and they will search the database.

I was shocked!

I just did this a couple days ago and I had $50 there.

- Right!

- I didn't even know.

I told- - And, you run the whole thing and didn't even know!

- I didn't.

I said you gonna hold that $50.

I'm gonna let it grow a little bit!

(both laugh) But, this is an insured process.

So then, we have to go through the fact-checking of making sure that you are who you say you are.

And then, that's when the lawyers get involved.

(Joe laughs) Your friends!

- For better, for worse!

- They get involved and they start to fact-check and put everything together.

But, this is-- You know?

This is just what I do.

- We talked a little bit off camera about financial literacy.

- Oh, yes.

- You're saying that this is one of the things that you really want to dig into as the chief fiscal officer of the state of California.

Talk about that.

- So, let me tell you this.

My term is only for four years.

And, if I'm fortunate and the voters re-elect me in 2026, I will have a total of eight years.

All constitutional officers, if they're re-elected, will have eight years total to serve.

And, in my eight years, I would like the state of California to have just a basic curriculum when it comes to financial literacy.

I think every kid that grows up in this state should be able to know how to save, how to budget, should know good credit, should know how to-- the meanings of delayed gratification.

And then, if they're really interested, take it a step further: how to invest, where to invest, how to evaluate a good investment and understand the different asset class that exists.

So, financial literacy to me is one of the great ways that we will break away from poverty.

And, that's really through education.

So, I've been partnering with a couple different financial institutions that are doing little things, like a little bit of here over here in Crenshaw, a little bit over in Oakland, California.

Different spots; they've had success.

But, I wanna scale it.

I wanna make sure that folks in the Inland Empire have that same resources, right?

I wanna talk about people who maybe are speaking English as a second language.

I want their children to really be successful and, you know, they say education is a key.

And, I take it a step further.

I think financial education is also very, very critical.

I think it's a game changer and it changes-- it will change within one generation, a person's quality of life.

- So, you're a year in; first term.

- Technically, 10 months in.

- Right.

And, you know, Lord willing, you'll have a second term.

So, that's about an eighth of your time.

- Mm hm.

- Which is short, right?

It's just been a moment.

But, is there anything that you've already done that you're particularly proud of?

- No.

I'm still working.

Still getting my-- (Malia laughs) still getting my bearings, still learning the names of key employees.

Being able to put names and faces with folks.

Not relying on just, like, an org chart.

Creating a good morale.

I want people to be proud that they're working at the state controller's office.

I want to hear their ideas.

As a matter of fact, the first thing I did was spend 22 hours listening.

I held 22 one-hour town hall conversations with just rank-and-file.

This is not the management.

Just people coming in.

Like, "what's working?

What's not working?

How do we improve this?"

And, I heard everything from we need more green plants to, "the heating in my building doesn't work."

So, I mean, this is all things that we've taken in that we're internalizing and solving.

So, I'll come back in a year and come back and report to you!

- Okay.

That's fair.

What would be the things that eight years from now you would want to be able to be said about what you did?

- Oh, that's a great question.

Eight years from now, I'd like many of the reports-- So, the controller has this unique function of pulling together all these different audits, all these different reports from different statewide agencies.

And this, again, dovetails into our fiscal health.

Okay?

So, I want these reports that I need to produce to be on time, and I want them to be accurate.

Right now, they're accurate but they're not on time.

And, the timeliness is critical because it's these reports that businesses use to help forecast their business projections.

Where they're gonna market, how they're gonna advertise, how much they're gonna do, what they're gonna do, their pricing; where are people's levels of income, what communities are growing, what communities have been-?

There's been a retraction in population.

So, these are the kind of reports that we produce that are relevant to just the day-to-day business for the state of California.

So, that ACFR?

I wanna make sure that it gets reported out on time and that's something that I'll be very proud of.

It's a very nerdy thing, you know?

(Malia laughs) It's a very government thing (Joe laughs) but it's something that I would be very proud of.

The other thing is developing and scaling an outstanding, and I wanna say award-winning financial literacy curriculum K to 12, right?

I think it's never too early to start to talk about money, good money habits.

I have a three-year-old daughter and all we do is find-- it's a game.

We find coins around the house and we just put 'em in a jar.

And, she was asking me "And, now what?

What's next?

I said, "oh, we're gonna save it for college."

"And then, what?"

I was like, "Girl?

We have a long way to go.

You're three; pace yourself!"

But, just having these conversations about money.

I don't know about you, but growing up my parents were college-educated, but they didn't talk about investments.

Right?

And, I realize that most people- because we'd have more than just the 1%- it's not part of our everyday lexicon.

We're not talking about that.

I want entrepreneurs, right?

You think about how many people are creating content and all these social media platforms, this is a whole new generation.

Making sure that they know how to invest their money, where they should save; high-yielding accounts, interest-earning accounts.

That's important.

Taking it a step further, helping them understand about bonding.

When you think about bonds, selling of bonds.

We're getting ready to sell some bonds.

It's that time of the year where the treasurer and the controller get together and we bring our bonds to market.

But, it's important because it helps fund paving of the streets and repairs to bridges, and cutting back the trees.

And, this is a revenue source.

I want us to talk about this very openly.

I'd like to be able to see a dashboard on the state controller's website where would tell you the name of the vendor that made the controller's T-shirts and how much we paid for them.

- Hm.

- Right?

So, there are-- there's a lot of work that needs to be done when it comes to accounting.

But, most-- what drives me is the desire for transparency.

- So, you just talked about your daughter.

- I did!

(Malia laughs) - I got a daughter, too.

She's a little older, but she's still, you know, daddy's girl, sometimes.

But, in any event, she looks at you and she sees "mommy."

Little does she know, mommy does some real important stuff.

So, talk a little bit about the notion of you're representative of everyone, whether they elected you or not.

California has a whole lot of people, but the idea of representation.

- Yeah.

- A woman of color.

Someone-- a Black woman.

Someone that's doing what it is that you're doing and to have people even watching our show.

- Mm hm.

- The people that see you incidentally and in a majority-minority state that lets folks know that it's okay and expected, and great to be representative.

But, also the idea of representation.

I imagine you must think about that sometimes.

- I think about it all the time.

I-?

Conversations that I have with my three-year-old.

She would rather me stay and play with her, and I said, "I got a big job to do.

"I got to get on a plane to go to work."

And-- but taking that a step further, like, just out of my own personal?

173 years.

173 years is the amount of time that had to pass before California elected a person that looked like me.

- Wow.

- That's a long time.

And, this-- I say this is California-- the face is changing.

The quality of leadership I think is still going to-- still will continue to be stellar.

But, as the first African American ever, let alone woman, to serve in this capacity, I do realize that it's representative.

So, I believe that as you start to have more diversity, have more diverse thought, more diverse experiences coming to the table and diverse leadership styles, and certainly representation does matter.

And, you know, now we are looking at constitutional officers that you have more women.

You think about Dr. Weber.

You think about Fiona Ma.

You think about Eleni Kounalakis.

People of color.

You've got me.

You got Dr. Weber.

You've got Tony Thurmond.

You've got Ricardo Lara.

You think about the LGBTQ representation statewide, you've got Ricardo Lara.

So I mean, there's-- this is a unique class of constitutional officers that are poised to run for other statewide offices, to run for Congress, or United States Senate.

I would imagine that we will have either a woman or a person of color that will be governor for our state.

So, this change isn't just starting and finishing here.

I mean, like-- it is really, I think, just part of a coming of age of people stepping out there.

And so, I hope that your listeners are paying attention.

Women are inspired to roll up their sleeves, run for office.

They can do it.

I'm an example of it.

I did it.

I started running when my daughter was six months old.

That's not to say that it was easy.

It was very, very difficult and challenging.

But, the payoff is wonderful.

I mean, to win and to be representative and to inspire.

To inspire, it's a huge responsibility.

I'm humbled by it to be chosen to be at this space and in this time, but realize that how serious it is and that it's not just about me where I am today, but it's about the future.

Your daughter, my daughter, other daughters that are listening and the young boys that are listening to know that their boss may be a woman.

So, I mean this is the 21st century, and there is a changing face of leadership and power.

- How do we follow up?

How do we follow you?

How do we connect with the Controller's Office?

How do we find out more based on this conversation?

- The Controller's Office is everywhere.

It's on Facebook.

It's on the platform formerly known as Twitter.

And, you can also follow me personally.

And, I'm on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and it's Malia Cohen.

I just go by my first name and you can always reach out to me via email.

- California State Controller, Malia Cohen, thank you so much for being on "Inland Edition."

- Thank you, Joe.

- I want to thank each and every one of you for watching "Inland Edition."

Know that you can watch it on demand at YouTube so you can watch it anytime and tell your friends to watch it any time.

And, let's keep going down the road building bridges one conversation at a time.

Until next time, see ya.

Thanks.

[uplifting music and vocals] ♪ ♪ [softer music] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [music fades]