If "defund the police" actually means "reform the police" then why not just say reform the police? And also why burn down police stations?
I think most people who want to "defund the police" plan to live in a place where the police haven't actually been defunded. "Defund the police" is a luxury belief.
Did you know that money doesn't come from a magic tree?
And since it doesn't come from a magic tree, it has to come from customers or from profits.
And a lot of these businesses have low profit margins to begin with (ie health insurance). Those businesses that are already low margin do have to pass the costs on to customers otherwise the risk adjusted return of their business is not worth it compared to savings bonds.
Ultimately if the cost of doing business is higher whether its because the government has imposed additional fees or because your money tree died, the cost of the producing the product has gone up and this has to be an upward pressure on prices. Unless you're running a money tree farm which must be the "smallest businesses" you're referring to.
If California had the weather of South Dakota no one would live there. California is the state version of being born on third base and thinking you hit a triple.
California has proven itself again and again to be really good at centrally planning the economic activities of individuals so I think this will work out pretty well in the end.
I think most people who want to "defund the police" plan to live in a place where the police haven't actually been defunded. "Defund the police" is a luxury belief.