Politicians love to remind the nation that California is the world’s fourth-largest economy and claim that others should follow the so-called “California Way.” But behind the slogans and press releases, the state has earned another reputation: ranking worst or among the worst in nearly every measure of quality of life, affordability, and business climate in 2024 and 2025.

According to recent studies and rankings, California stands at or near the bottom in:

And now, California can add one more distinction that no other state has: A Government-Created Rodent Plague.

A Government-Created Crisis

California’s rodent plague didn’t happen by accident. It’s the result of politicians who favor emotional stories over scientific facts. Instead of listening to experts, they listen to activists. The same activists who stage “die-ins” at supermarkets, break into farms to “liberate” chickens, and then go shopping for legislators willing to support their cause. The result is not cleaner, safer communities, but laws that make life more dangerous for families, workers, and farmers.

And let’s be clear: these aren’t the adorable rodents that stitch Cinderella’s ball gown or cook a French meal in Pixar’s Ratatouille. They are destructive, disease-spreading pests. According to National Geographic, two rats can multiply into 15,000 in just one year. That kind of exponential growth poses a serious threat to human health and the food supply.

Already, Californians have contracted plague in places like South Lake Tahoe, and our farmworkers and food supply are under siege.

Rodents chew through electrical wiring, cause house fires, spread diseases like hantavirus and salmonella, and are now tearing through almond orchards, destroying irrigation systems, and causing hundreds of millions of dollars in crop damage.

The Almond Board of California estimates that infestations across more than 100,000 acres of orchards have caused up to $310 million in losses.

Farmers are sounding the alarm: “Never Seen Anything Like This.”

Yet at the very moment rodent populations are exploding, California politicians removed the most effective tools to control them. The Poison-Free Wildlife Act of 2024 banned the use of several key rodenticides, leaving pest control professionals to fight a plague with one hand tied behind their backs. This legislation went into effect on January 1, 2025.

What was championed as a “victory for wildlife” is becoming an economic and health issue.

Orkin and Terminix experts agree: the loss of these tools has made it nearly impossible to control infestations on a large scale. Mike VanFossen, the assistant vice provost at Residential & Dining Enterprises (R&DE) at Stanford University, stated that “a population increase of rodents” has occurred statewide following the legislation passed months ago.

Rodent pest control is not about slogans, emotions, or political posturing. It is about protecting public health, securing our food supply, and safeguarding the livelihoods of farmers and workers. Yet California politicians chose to legislate under pressure from activists instead of science, stripping professionals of the tools they need to keep communities safe. The result is higher costs, greater risks, and a crisis that threatens families, farmworkers, and the state’s agricultural community.

What was celebrated as a “victory for wildlife” has become a disaster for Californians. And now, the Golden State can add a new entry to its long list of ‘worst in the nation’ titles: a government-created rodent plague.

Hector Barajas is the founder of Amplify360 Inc., a public affairs and strategic communications firm with offices in Sacramento and Los Angeles, advising companies and associations on legislative, regulatory, and political issues across California.