Staff Reports
California Governor Gavin Newsom just rolled out a new program called Golden State Start that promises 400 free diapers for every newborn at participating hospitals. That sounds sweet until you look at the bill and the people behind the scenes. Taxpayers deserve answers about costs, contracts and why a nonprofit with ties to the First Partner is running the operation.
What Golden State Start actually does — and how much it might cost
The program will hand 400 diapers to families when newborns leave participating hospitals. The state says Baby2Baby will buy, store and deliver the diapers. Year one focuses on about 65–75 hospitals and aims to distribute roughly 40 million diapers. That checks out with California’s many births each year — hundreds of thousands. But here’s the real question: how much are taxpayers paying per diaper when you include warehousing, trucking, staffing and contracts?
Don’t let the math be dressed up as a press release
Critics did simple math and pointed to roughly $20 million in budget lines, which would mean about 50 cents a diaper. The governor’s office pushed back, saying that figure is misleading and that procurement details show lower per‑unit costs and other program expenses in the budget. Fine. The cure for fuzzy numbers is transparency, not slogans. Publish the contracts, show the bids and let Californians see exactly what the state paid and why Baby2Baby got the job.
Cronyism concerns: why the nonprofit choice matters
Here’s the awkward part. One of Baby2Baby’s co‑CEOs is listed as a collaborator with the California Partners Project, an organization co‑founded by the First Partner. That isn’t proof of wrongdoing. It is, however, the exact kind of overlap that sets off alarms about “behested payments” and favoritism. When government hands contracts to groups with social ties to officials, the right move is clear: full disclosure, clear procurement records and, if necessary, an audit. Anything less looks like politics dressed up in baby wipes.
The idea of helping new parents isn’t bad. But politics and charity should not get to rewrite procurement rules. If this program is truly the best way to help families, the governor’s office should welcome oversight and post all contracts, invoices and procurement bids publicly. Californians who pay the bills deserve that courtesy — and a little less theatrical compassion and a lot more accountability.
