I think most of the country gets a bad rep for regulation and initiatives and laws that don't have positive effect. My parents are in the crowd that want to leave California because of supposed "over-regulation". I was telling my father this morning about the Songs-Beverly Act (California's Lemon Law) which essentially protects products you buy for 7 years, giving you the right to repair them. I just sued my employer for not allowing me 2nd meal breaks (every 5 hours), rest breaks, and for not giving me proper/reasonable notice when making schedule changes. These are all things I didn't have when I worked a federal job. Btw, it's hilarious that you're not entitled to (just 1!) meal break at the federal level. California has excess regulation, but I wish people weighed it against the positives instead of assuming it's all red tape.

I think California deserves more praise for how it protects people. Net Neutrality is effectively upheld by state-by-state regulation, because the federal gov couldn't secure this for us.