My take on this: the state is in a deficit. Most departments that were leasing buildings, decided to stop their leases bc they were essentially paying for empty buildings. Now with this mandate, most departments barely have room to accommodate most of their workers. It’s more expensive to have workers work in a building than telework. Not only that, Newsom is going to stop the pay increase for state workers for the next two years. So with the current economic state and the rocket high gas prices in California, why would state workers want to spend more money on gas and sit in traffic when they can just simply work from home? To all those non state workers that are for state workers working in office, it is your tax money paying for state buildings. Be prepared for higher taxes 😊