‘We did this to ourselves’: California governor candidate Betty Yee emphasizes accountability

On Tuesday, Stanford Abundance welcomed former California Controller Betty Yee, a candidate in the 2026 gubernatorial election. In a conversation with student host Daniel Stein ’29, speaking to a room of about two dozen students, Yee answered questions ranging from California’s industrial sectors to gubernatorial political responsibility amidst the current federal administration. 

Yee repeatedly emphasized the need for accountability, describing it as having become  “a dirty word in politics.” While auditing the MediCal system, the former Controller noted how her office was “always, always, always [finding] fraud” by medical providers, totalling hundreds of millions of dollars. While she acknowledged the “good intentions” of the legislature, Yee also criticized their lack of accountability.

“I always thought that public policy was about, how do you really enact policies [that] are going to have the greatest broadest public benefit? And now we have a legislature, and frankly a governor, that likes to enact laws, but [doesn’t] like to actually go out and see, ‘how are they working?’” she said. “When I look at all that is ailing us in California — we did this to ourselves.”

Yee also attributed much of her worldview to her initial foray into politics, which came during the AIDS and HIV crises of the mid-1980s. 

“There was just kind of this whole idea that we wanted to get the policy right because we knew people’s lives were going to depend on it,” she said. “And today, I will say that to actually bring the voice of lived experiences into policy making — we’re not doing a good job with that.”

For the former Controller, education is one such issue where lived experiences are often neglected in Californian policy-making (California ranks in the bottom of half states by K-12 test scores). Rather than focusing on funding, Yee expressed the need to “make the academic experience relevant for people.”

“The other thing we don’t do is get ahead of the needs … of our workforce,” she said. “I think the earlier that we could expose our learners to digital literacy, including now AI, and be able to tie that to the kinds of jobs that are going to be there — that’s the key.”

Yee also outlined her plans to integrate education with healthcare, the latter of which she described as something “all Californians, regardless of legal status, should have access to.”

“A lot of child care is under [the] Department of Education, as a part of the education system,” she said. “But then there’s also childcare under the Health and Social Services [Department]. So how do we pull that all together?”

Yee heavily focused on the issue of housing, which has become a top issue for Californians. In addition to strengthening existing housing stock, she outlined her plans to modify The California Environmental Quality Act, which has been seen by some as a bureaucratic roadblock to land development. Approaching housing from the dual perspective of “land and finance,” she stressed the need for “economically-sustainable housing” that could preserve existing communities while offering homes to first-time homeowners. 

“People don’t have a sense of ownership about where they live right now,” she said.

Yee also spoke to the responsibilities of the governor in dealing with President Donald Trump.

“Do we want a fighter-in-chief against Trump, or do we want someone who’s actually going to work to deliver for California?” she asked. 

Yee criticized California’s congressional delegation, which she described as making “no attempt to try to put up the fight.” In particular, she expressed her desire to see more of an attempt by legislators on Capital Hill to try and re-authorize state audit authority for MediCal.

Members of the audience reacted differently to Yee’s emphasis on California-first governance.

Victoria Ren ’26, one of the presidents of Stanford Abundance, appreciated the fresh perspectives.

“[In] the attention economy, where certain forms of outrage or spectacle are prioritized, [they] come in tension with the actual nuts and bolts of how do you build a coalition, how do you problem solve, how do you deliver when problems are problems of complexity,” Ren said. “I found Betty’s points — how do you govern and make a compelling case for voters? — really interesting.” 

Ren also empathized with Yee’s background as the child of two immigrants.

“I really did resonate with her point about learning to be an advocate just because your parents are navigating the country for the first time,” she said. “And so that on a personal note was quite touching.” 

Other attendees, however, expressed the need to engage the federal government head-on.

“I would prioritize a candidate that knows how to govern effectively,” Nason Li ’29 said. “[But] I do think in the face of President Trump and a lot of what he’s been doing, I think we do need a governor that has experience just, you know, combating Trump more directly.”

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