Gas prices, Sacramento, April 4, 2026. (Photo: Katy Grimes for California Globe)
Highest Gas Prices, New Tire Restrictions: Democrats Inflicting More Economic Pain on CA Residents
We are being taxed to death by Democrats in California
By Katy Grimes, August 24, 2026 6:00 am
In March, Democrats in the California Senate Environmental Quality Committee killed Senate Bill 1035 by Senator Tony Strickland (R-Huntington Beach) which would have provided immediate relief for California drivers at the gas pump by lowering the price of a gallon of gas by $1.08. SB 1035, the Gas Tax Relief Act, would have helped every driver in California. But Democrats would not offer that lifeline to the state’s residents.
Senate Bill 1035 would have provided immediate cost relief to Californians by temporarily suspending the state gas tax, The Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), and The LCFS cap-and-trade compliance mechanism, totaling approximately $1.08 per gallon, and saving a typical household with two drivers $1,100 per year.
Gas prices today in California average $5.61 per gallon – highest in the nation and higher than even Hawaii. Lowering the price by $1.08 per gallon would take California’s average gas price down to $4.53 per gallon, and could save $21.60 per tank of gas. Even the reduction in price is still higher than the national average. But most people would gladly accept it.
Last week the California Energy Commission decided to implement a 20+ year old bill to pass new rules restricting tire sales in the state.
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.”
No one thought that improving the state’s potholed roads and highways might accomplish more than their highly regulated tires….
Commissioner Nancy Skinner justified the decision by the California Energy Commission saying, “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 covered. When she couldn’t ban guns, she tried to ban bullets. The same tactic she used for tire restrictions.
Within a day, Senator Tony Strickland demanded that the five members of the Energy Commission resign after passing the new and costly tire mandate. Gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton called for the removal of Nancy Skinner from the California Energy Commission (CEC), arguing that she is not qualified for the commission seat intended for an engineering or scientific expert. He also renewed his pledge to eliminate the CEC entirely as part of his broader effort to streamline state government and reduce bureaucratic waste.
You don’t have to be an economist to connect the dots – Sen. Strickland was fiercely trying to create some relief at the gas pump for families, and instead, Democrats killed his bill. Now Democrats continue to double down on costlier tire policies, with little regard for the people who have to pay the ever-increasing, unnecessary, outrageous prices.
California’s state taxes, plus climate program costs, have long been adding well over $1 per gallon relative to the national average.
California has the highest combined state gasoline taxes and fees in the United States, significantly above the national average.
- California state motor vehicle fuel excise* tax: 63.4 cents per gallon (effective July 1, 2026; annual inflation adjustment up from 61.2¢).
- Combined state taxes + fees (excise + sales tax component + other fees): approximately 70.9–73.6 cents per gallon.
- Federal excise tax (same nationwide): 18.4 cents per gallon.
- Total federal + state in California: roughly 89–92 cents per gallon (before local variations or variable environmental costs).
California also imposes climate program costs that fuel suppliers pass through, which are not always counted in the pure “tax” rankings above but added to pump prices:
- Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS): typically 15–25¢/gal (varies with credit prices).
- Cap-and-trade / Cap-and-Invest: typically 20–30¢/gal (varies with allowance prices).
These push the effective state and climate burden to $1.00 – $1.20+ per gallon in some analyses, on top of the federal tax. State and local sales taxes, often 2.25% base plus districts, further vary by location and are applied to the pre-tax price.
We are being taxed to death by Democrats in California. And those who don’t tax us impose ridiculous regulations and restrictions on us like plastic bag mandates; and now, unnecessary and costly tire restrictions.
And because Sen. Tony Strickland is only one of 10 Republican Senators out of 40 total, Democrats killed his bill for the fun of it – because they can.
Expect to hear more about these tax and policy issues before the Legislature recesses August 31st.
A California native and Navy mom, Katy lives in Sacramento, CA.
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These new tire regulations will cause tires to roll more with less friction. Thus there will be more accidents, on roads that are wet in the winter, snowy, and sandy. And even more wrecks after the first rain making all roads more slick. And those tires will only go about 27,000 miles before all 4 need to be replaced. Which will eat up that so called B.S. savings of gasoline real fast. The loss of 70% of all other tires sold in California will run the small tire companies and businesses out of business. Thus the regular other tires will become more expensive. What a dumb idea. NO MORE CHOICE OF NO MORE NOTHING in COMMIE CALIFORNIA>
The coward and pedophile in chief is also supportive energy costs that are destroying America
What are you even talking about?
Just venting their TDS again… it’s reflexive….
I’ll just order my tires from out of state from tirerack.com or similar. If they won’t sell them, then I’ll drive to Vegas or Phoenix and buy them there. To Hell with ScrewSome and his cronies!