CPUC Commissioner Nancy Skinner.
Radical California Energy Commissioner to Restrict Car Tires Because They Can’t Ban Cars
Nancy Skinner is the same lawmaker who tried to ban bullets when she couldn’t ban your guns
By Katy Grimes, August 18, 2026 7:38 am
A bill to regulate car tires was passed by the California Legislature 20 years ago but never implemented.
“The California Energy Commission dusted off a 20+ year old bill to pass new rules restricting tire sales in the state,” KCRA’s Ashley Zavala reported Monday. “The CEC has not regulated tires before. I asked Commissioner (former State Sen) Nancy Skinner if she pushed it & why this sat dormant until now.”
The California Energy Commission dusted off a 20+ year old bill to pass new rules restricting tire sales in the state.
The CEC has not regulated tires before.
I asked Commissioner (former State Sen) Nancy Skinner if she pushed it & why this sat dormant until now. pic.twitter.com/Th8zpvHTtl
— Ashley Zavala (@ZavalaA) August 18, 2026
Assembly Bill 844 “directs the California Energy Commission to adopt a Replacement Tire Efficiency Program to ensure replacement tires for passenger cars and light-duty trucks sold in California are at least as energy-efficient as the tires sold as original equipment on new vehicles.”
Skinner justified the decision by the California Energy Commission “we regulate appliances, tires are kind of like that.”
Nancy Skinner is the same lawmaker who tried to ban “Bullets, the very thing that make guns deadly,” she said in a hearing in 2013 I reported on. When she couldn’t ban guns, she tried to ban bullets.
In 2013, Assembly Bill 48 by then-Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) passed the Assembly by a 46-26 vote and moved over to the state Senate.
Her bill would have banned the sale of magazine parts kits that can hold more than 10 cartridges, and require mandatory reporting of law-abiding citizens who purchase more than 3,000 rounds of ammunition within a five-day period.
So naturally, when she can’t get you out of your car and onto public transit, she will make tires more expensive and difficult to get.
“We reversed California’s ban on gas-powered cars so now the state is banning tires instead. This latest blow to common sense could cost drivers hundreds of dollars.,” Rep. Kevin Kiley posted to X.
We don’t need new tires.
Or new engines.
Or new doctors.
Or new bullet trains.
Or new rules.We need new politicians. https://t.co/j1Ab7rTPUA
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) August 18, 2026
In 2024, when Senate Democrats rejected a bill to make purchasing a child for sex a felony, Senator Nancy Skinner actually attempted to offer cover to perps for buying and selling sex:
“Selling sex has been within human cultures for millennia,” Skinner said. “It is a very difficult area of law to get into.”
Really? Was Skinner serious? The short answer is Yes.
She’s a leftist Berkeley politician, authoritarian, pro-abortion, climate change zealot, gun control nut.
Former State Senator Nancy Skinner, a Democrat from Berkeley (redundant, right?), was confirmed by the Senate in May 2025 for an appointment to the California Energy Commission. Nominated by Governor Gavin Newsom for the California Energy Commission, Skinner was an institution in the California Legislature, having served since 2008, and known for supporting some of the most radical policies: pro-abortion any time in the pregnancy, global warming, climate change and radical environmentalism. Skinner even authored SB 345 which provides legal protections for medication abortions and “gender-affirming care” – dangerous, irreversible hormone treatments for gender-confused “trans” persons.
Nancy Skinner is reason for term limits, and why voters never bargained for termed-out lawmakers to get appointments to cushy boards and commissions.
Senate Republican Leader Brian Jones brought five binders of Skinner’s bills to the Senate floor saying, “We disagreed with 2/3 of them, but on energy, it was a 90% disagreement.”
“Many of the state’s current energy problems stemmed from her legislation,” he said noting, “government bureaucrats come first and constituents come second.”
In 2023, Skinner authored a bill signed into law by Gov. Newsom to require venture capitalists report to the California Civil Rights Department the diversity of the founding members of the businesses they invested in.
Sen. Skinner, “a social justice advocate, clean energy and climate change trailblazer,” who has never run a business or signed the front of a paycheck – claimed SB 54 will “bring transparency to venture capital investments in California and is designed to help more women- and minority-owned startups access vital VC funding.”
The bill had nothing to do with the business of investing in start-up businesses, other than to harm the practice. Venture capital investing has made it possible for many businesses which had a solid business plan, but needed the capital: Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Whole Foods and many others.
In 2023 the Globe reported that Senator Skinner must despise the oil and gas industry as much as Gov. Newsom. The California Assembly hosted a side show, when after jamming SBX1-2, authored by Sen. Nancy Skinner, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Gas Tax, through an expedited hearing, pretended that was enough exposure to the public, and debated the bill and voted on it. Skinner and Newsom’s SB X1-2 will create a new panel of unelected bureaucrats with subpoena power, to investigate oil and gas companies, impose penalties, new costs and regulations, which would inevitably lead to gas shortages, rationing and price spikes. The bill creates a new government agency to arbitrarily decide how much profit oil and gas businesses are allowed to make, disrupting California’s energy market and threatening the reliability of the state’s fuel supply, according to Assembly Republicans.
Gov. Newsom signed SB X1-2 into law, growing state government again.
In 2023, Sen. Nancy Skinner called for a tax increase on major corporations, such as Coca Cola and Walmart, in order to fund middle-and-lower-income tax cuts, as well as infrastructure projects in the 2023-24 budget. And Senate Democrats praised the budget raising taxes on California businesses.
In 2023, the California Legislative Women’s Caucus and the California Future of Abortion Council announced their 2023 bill package on “reproductive justice” and abortion rights. Because of “the zealots on the United States Supreme Court,” who according to Sen. Nancy Skinner, “overturned a 50-year right,” the package includes 17 pieces of legislation “that will expand access to reproductive health care and strengthen California’s standing as a safe haven for abortion, contraception, and pregnancy care.”
This is who Governor Newsom and Senate Democrats gifted with an appointment on the very powerful, totally unaccountable, unelected California Energy Commission.
This is why elections matter.
A California native and Navy mom, Katy lives in Sacramento, CA.
- Taxpayer Protection of Prop 218 Undermined by Democrat Bill AB 2180 - August 19, 2026
- Radical California Energy Commissioner to Restrict Car Tires Because They Can’t Ban Cars - August 18, 2026
- Collision Communications v. Samsung: Landmark Patent Infringement - August 18, 2026
RELATED ARTICLES
-
July 31, 2020 -
-
September 30, 2022
What an idiot! Once again no appreciation for science, especially physics in this case. Less friction/grip on the roadway will increase traction breaks, and more accidents. How do people like this get appointed? Go get a job in the private sector! Oh, wait…
Lono, exactly!! The tire manufacturers build tires that are safe to drive and the compound they design is for that reason. If they design a less sticky tire and someone gets hurt, who will Ron Bonta sue?? 🙂 I am sure the CEC wouold be immune!!!
What does restricting tires have to do with energy efficiency?
Someone needs to grab the supersized butterfly net and round this looneytunes up.
Sigh… is there no end to this insanity? Tire industry insiders state that the “replacement tires” are available, but cost hundreds of dollars more apiece, not $7.00 like Skinner contends.
When are the CA Republicans going to point out that CA Democrats have turned our state into a third world country ??? More citizens would vote if they were made aware of this type of nonsense. Geez!
we can drive around on bald tires and really be 3rd world.
that face of hers was made for radio!
Remember guys – the only way to actually end this insanity is to vote out these degenerate Dems.
I’m sure they will eventually build a wall to “save us “ from ourselves by restricting driving to bordering states to buy banned appliances, tires, small gas engines, cheaper gas, etc.
Another unelected unaware self loathing holier than thou lacking in common sense tree hugging virtue signaling man hating baby killing progressive Libtard that cant even understand what she is doing to the people of this state. It’s ALL about her. Only in California can she do what she’s doing. Any other (Red) state would tell her to shove it where the Sun DONT shine. When people like her leave this mortal realm…ALL of us become better off.
People with jobs need tires to get to work. People with jobs need gasoline to get to work. The Democraps don’t want people to have jobs. They want them to be dependent on government.
If Hilton gets elected, his first order of business is to unappoint them Communist from their positions. Trump is right. They are Communists.
just like the good intentions of these “experts” has left us with dishwashers than run 3-4 hours, and household appliances that only last 5-10 years, not to mention toilets that use less water but must be flushed 2 times to actually pass waste to the sewer and the weak water pressure coming out of you shower that forces you to use more water.
PLEASE STOP HELPING US.
PLEASE STOP VOTING FOR THEM.
We didnt….
Democrats have “Dominion” over us…
Blame Alex Padilla for that….
Nancy Skinner (aka prune face) is at it again! No one elected this radical communist Democrat witch from Berkeley to be a dictator telling us what kind of tires we can buy!
If they really cared about the environment, which they don’t they would outlaw electric cars!! Electric cars are several hundred pounds heavier than gas ones which means they go through tires faster and put out more brake dust which is bad for the environment. Of course all they really care about is power and money!
Because this has national implications the federal government must step in and stop this.
Maybe invade California and free us from the hostage state that we endure under “Dominion” of Democrat cheat-by-mail voting season?
Tires are designed and made for our safety. The money Ms. Skinner claims drivers will “save” is simply her own zeal. California was built around the automobile. What needs to be mandated is that all used tires in California go to a recycling machine which grinds them down and the recycled bits get used to built safer, longer-lasting roads. Oh my! That tire recycler is very expensive! Come on California politicians and economy and environmental law-makers – look at the facts for a change!
Caren, facts don’t matter to progressives, only FEELINGS….
Ahh, Nancy “E.T.” Skinner is up to her old tricks again…
This is what is 100% WRONG with California politics…
We get the same recycled progressive nutbags moving from the Senate to an unelected bureaucracy role, appointed by a lame duck (limp dick?) Governor who has quiet quit his Governor job to go chase the Presidency…
Term limits should mean NO GOVERNMENT ROLES for at least 20 years after being termed out!!!
Who wants to bet she’ll next outlaw motor oil…
Oops, I shouldn’t give her walnut-brain any ideas…
Interesting that her plan would ban retreads – because she is one.
I bet this gets slapped down by the Trump administration National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, has primary federal jurisdiction over car tires NHTSA. NHTSA is responsible for regulating the safety of motor vehicles and related equipment, including tires, under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). These standards set requirements for tire performance, dimensions, load ratings, and durability. What was interesting is when Ms. Skinner began to layout the number of items that the CEC has claimed jurisdiction over and regulates. Talk about big government run amuck. Trimming the fat will save all of us needless regulations, lower costs and improve affordability.
The more expensive “efficient” tires are so good for us, they have to be mandatory.
–“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.” C.S. Lewis
I am a natural CA born senior, old-school Liberal Independent. I ‘remember’ the great state I grew up in. This is ‘not it’! The ‘Democrats’ have warn really ‘thin’ on me, and this ‘replacement tire law’ is just another burden by uncaring-indifferent wealthy Democratic ‘elitist’ that have taken over our state. I did not vote for them or any of their ‘punitive’ nanny laws! I am also a ‘vaper’ who quit smoking cigarettes after 42 years! The ‘Democrats’ have forced me to go ‘black market’ for my vape juice, now I will go ‘black market’ for replacement tires too! At least I am not paying any of their exorbitant ‘vape juice’ taxes anymore! Vote these ‘elitist’ out! Steve Hilton has a point!