When it comes to how the state’s chief fiscal officer should manage the world’s fourth-largest economy, Malia Cohen and Herb Morgan, in some form or fashion, agree the next California controller should focus on accountability, oversight and transparency.
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Exactly how that looks, however, differs a bit between the two candidates.
Take hospice fraud, for example.
It’s been a particular flashpoint for the Trump administration as it seeks to crack down on fraud in federally funded health programs. More than 1,000 hospices have been removed from Medicare since early 2025, with Los Angeles County accounting for an estimated $3.5 billion in fraudulent hospice claims, by federal officials’ estimate, according to the Associated Press.
State officials, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, have also acknowledged that fraud in the hospice industry is particularly rampant in California. The state’s Department of Health has revoked hundreds of hospice licenses over the past two years and identified even more for review, the governor’s office announced earlier this year.
The controller’s office can help, said Cohen, who has held the job since 2022, by auditing public programs, including certain Medi-Cal ones, as well as looking for gaps within California’s Department of Health Services’ fiscal oversight and internal controls.
“We have improved our internal controls so that we can stop fraud before it happens and have taken a broader approach to accountability,” said Cohen when asked in the Southern California News Group’s voter guide questionnaire.
“Audits remain an important tool, but true fiscal responsibility requires more than looking backward,” she said. “It requires preventing problems before they happen through better systems, stronger controls, data analytics, and smarter oversight.”
Morgan, though, said California’s monitoring of the hospice industry came a little too late. Revoking licenses came after money had already moved, he said.
And while California’s departments of Public Health and Health Care Services handle licensing and Medi-Cal, respectively, the controller’s responsibility is money.
“The controller has independent authority to audit claims and payments touching the Treasury — anyone billing Medi-Cal or drawing a state warrant,” said Morgan, who founded an investment firm.
“I will use that authority: claim-lineage reviews, anomaly flags on high-risk providers, public exception registers, and recovery of improper payments,” Morgan said, pledging to get audits done.
Both candidates have financial resumes
From San Francisco, Cohen has long been in public service. She previously served on the Board of Equalization — an elected office that administers California’s property tax system — as well as on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Cohen also led the San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System, a $23 billion pension fund at the time, according to her state bio.
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Morgan, who lives in San Diego, recently retired as the chief investment officer of Efficient Market Advisors, the firm he founded in 2004. He has nearly four decades of experience with financial markets, his campaign bio notes, and once led the San Diego City Employees’ Retirement System.
Aside from overseeing California’s massive economy, the state controller also manages financial property until claimed by rightful owners, administers the payroll system for state employees and serves on the boards of the country’s two largest public pension funds.
It’s the controller’s job, said Morgan, a Republican, to “stop slippage and theft so appropriated dollars buy what the law paid for.”
“My goals for the office: publish every material state payment on a public ledger; audit claims against anyone touching Treasury money; post exceptions and recoveries in real time; and tie major programs to documented delivery — not press releases,” Morgan said.
“Success is measured in dollars recovered, unmatched claims closed, and results that move off the bottom of the scoreboard. If money cannot be followed, it cannot be defended,” he said. “I will make it followable.”
Cohen said she’d like her second term, if reelected, to focus on modernizing the fiscal management system.
“My office has taken a broader approach to accountability,” Cohen, a Democrat, said.
“I will continue using the controller’s independent audit authority and stronger internal controls to identify problems earlier, protect taxpayer dollars and demand corrective action,” Cohen said. “And I will continue focusing on practical results: returning more unclaimed property, improving customer service and expanding opportunities for small businesses.”
Registered California voters have already been mailed their ballots, and voting is already underway. Election Day is Nov. 3.
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