California's Attorney General, Rob Bonta, has claimed that California has spent $19.2 million on legal fees to protect $207.1 billion in federal funding over the past 18 months. However, the $207 billion figure is not "saved" or generated out of thin air, but represents routine federal program allocations. The $19 million spent on California’s lawsuits was real, cash-out-the-door taxpayer money, which comes from the state’ highest state income taxes and the highest cost of living in the nation. The Bontas administration has been accused of using the federal court system like a stage for partisan posturing, while simultaneously running a domestic tax-and-regulate regime that inflates prices for working families. Republican Assemblymember Natasha Johnson criticized the wasteful prioritization of public safety initiatives.