Gabriel Petek

2016 CA Summit - A Hard Sixth: Keeping California Strong in a Competitive Global Economy

Michael Milken, Kevin de León, Scott Minerd, Gabriel Petek, Marcus Thygeson, Mimi Walters

California leverages its status as the world's fifth-largest economy to drive global bioscience innovation and secure over 60% of U.S. venture capital, despite facing acute fiscal volatility and a $74 billion in retiree health liabilities. Key figures including Senator Kevin de Leon and Representative Mimi Walters debated strategies to balance aggressive clean energy investments with necessary corporate tax reforms to reverse manufacturing decline and resident outflows. Future growth hinges on democratizing access to education and early childhood programs while shifting pension portfolios toward infrastructure to sustain the state's demographic precarity and high cost of living.