In a startling revelation, it has been discovered that the state of California has allocated nearly $18 million of taxpayer funds to the left-leaning Tides Center since the commencement of Gavin Newsom's governorship in 2019.
This information was unearthed through a meticulous review of state spending records conducted by The Washington Free Beacon. The Tides Center, a dark money behemoth, operates in such a manner that it remains unclear whether these funds are ultimately directed towards any of the far-left groups it supports.
This operational setup allows the state to obscure the final recipient of taxpayer dollars once contracts or grants are awarded to the Tides Center. According to The Washington Free Beacon, the spending database of the Golden State indicates that 18 agencies, spanning from health departments to workplace regulators, have made payments to the George Soros-backed nonprofit.
However, the database does not disclose which project ultimately receives the funding. State officials have also indicated that the database lacks information from certain departments, suggesting that total payments to the Tides Center could exceed the nearly $18 million currently shown.
The Tides Center functions essentially as a conduit, channeling hundreds of millions of dollars annually to a network of ostensibly independent charitable organizations, primarily those advocating progressive causes. However, unlike traditional nonprofits, these groups are housed within the Tides Center as so-called fiscally sponsored projects. This arrangement allows them to operate as charities while circumventing the IRS's stringent financial transparency requirements for tax-exempt groups.
Parker Thayer, an investigative researcher with the Capital Research Center, described this arrangement as "almost designed to be non-transparent." He added that left-wing billionaires favor structures like Tidess "precisely because it allows them to shovel their money faster to left-leaning causes."
Thayer further commented, "It sounds like Californias government is so eager to give away money, theyre using Tides as a way to shovel money out the door to pop-up nonprofits that dont have to file independent form 990s disclosing who they pay, how much they pay them, or where they send money to."
This revelation emerges as Newsom attempts to navigate towards the political center in anticipation of a potential presidential run in 2028. Newsom, who has deep fundraising ties to the Tides financial network, recently backpedaled on transgender issues, declaring it "deeply unfair" for biological boys to compete in girls sports. As governor, he has raised more than $1 million for the Tides Center and over $11 million for the Tides Foundation.
The Tides Center may have directed the funding to competent, nonpartisan organizations, or the left-wing group may have retained the funding internally. However, without additional transparency, it is impossible to confirm without responses from the Tides Center or the government, which has largely been slow to respond, if at all. Some agencies did provide information upon request, revealing that state funding was directed to one group dedicated to "health equity" and another focused on "environmental justice."
The Tides Center did not respond to a request for comment. A representative for the Department of General ServicesCalifornias business managerreferred the Free Beacon to individual agencies and the states contracts database.
Like the spending database, the contracts database lists the Tides Center as the sole recipient, even in instances where the Free Beacon confirmed that the money goes to a sponsored project. A section for subcontracting information is also left blank.
The California Air Regulatory Board (CARB), for instance, issued a $100,000 "community air grant" to the Tides Center for "financial assistance." However, a spokeswoman informed the Free Beacon that the grant actually went to one of the Tides Centers sponsored projects, the Oakland-based Hope Collaborative, which works to "advance racial, economic, and health equity in Oaklands food system."
The agency also awarded two no-bid contracts to Tides Advocacy, the political arm of the Tides network, which ultimately sent nearly $7,000 to the Orange County Environmental Justice Fund to help CARB understand how its "rules and regulations impact environmental justice," according to the agency spokeswoman. The Orange County group describes its mission as environmental justice "through advocacy, public accountability, healing, and systemic transformation."
CARB was one of just six agencies that informed the Free Beacon which Tides Center project ultimately received state funding via the left-wing group. Those sixthe air regulator, the California State Library, the state Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Industrial Relations, the Employment Development Department, and the California Workforce Investment Boardprovided only $4 million to the Tides Center. Thats just 22 percent of the total the Newsom administration sent to the dark money group.
Representatives for the remaining 12 agencies said they couldnt easily find relevant records, asked for more time but didnt provide answers after nearly a week, or didn't respond at all.
The Department of Health Care Services, for example, since 2019 has paid the Tides Center $8.8 millionnearly half the total state funding sent to the group. A representative for the department, which manages Californias Medicaid program, asked the Free Beacon for contract numbers, then didnt respond to subsequent emails.
The Department of Public Health, meanwhile, paid the Tides Center $3.4 million, including $3,000 in late fees, to manage "public health planning for climate change impacts" and for "Covid-19 response therapeutics," according to the contracts database. The department told the Free Beacon it was treating its inquiry for more information as a public records request, which can take weeks to complete and doesnt guarantee a resolution.
The Coastal Commission, the agency responsible for protecting the coastline and known for blocking beachfront homeowners from building seawalls, paid the Tides Center over $500,000 from 2019 through 2024. When a spokesman responded after the Free Beacons third attempt to contact the agency, he questioned why state funding for the Tides Center merited a story. He said he would see what he could do and abruptly hung up.
The Tides Centerpart of a larger network that includes a donor-advised fund and a 501(c)4 political activist grouphas a long history of fostering and bankrolling radical progressive organizations. As of March 2025, the Tides Center controls 78 fiscally sponsored groups, including Fair and Just Prosecution, which has helped elect progressive prosecutors, such as George Gascon, Chesa Boudin, and Pamela Price, who were all ousted by crime-weary voters.
Another is the Alliance for Safety and Justice, which led Californias failed experiment to decriminalize certain theft and drug-dealing. The Tides Center also supports the Arab Resources and Organizing Center, the group that tried to blockade a U.S. military ship bound for Israel in 2023, and the Community Justice Exchange, which bailed out the anti-Israel protesters arrested last year for shutting down airports, bridges, and highways.
"Taxpayer dollars should not fund a radical network that seems more intent on tearing the state apart rather than fixing it," Americans for Public Trust executive director Caitlin Sutherland said.
Agencies responsible for some of the Tides Centers smaller grants were more communicative. The spending database, for example, shows that the California State Library paid the Tides Center $70,000 between 2022 and 2024. A spokesman explained that the money actually went to both the Tides Center and its sponsored project, the National Veterans Network, a group focused on Japanese-American soldiers in World War II, to write school instruction materials about the Japanese internment camps in the United States.
A California Environmental Protection Agency official likewise explained that the $95,000 it paid to the Tides Center through two environmental justice grants ultimately went to Orange County Environmental Justice Fund, the same group that received CARB money.
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