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Grove, Shannon
With its moderate climate, rich natural resources, and expansive coastline, the Golden State has its clear advantages. Yet elected state government leaders seem eager to see just how much Californians are willing to pay for these amenities.
Whether it be higher taxes and fees, or increased nanny-state policies, many Californians are too willing to write these off as simply the price you pay to live in such a beautiful locale, giving little to no thought to why everything from housing and transportation to food and services cost more than in most other states.
Thanks to policies pushed by the overwhelming Democrat majorities in both houses of the legislature, Californians will soon experience even more burdensome costs and rules in their everyday lives.
For example, Californians should prepare for an immediate 15 cent per gallon increase in the price of gasoline, with that number likely to rise much higher. Beginning January 1, gasoline and diesel fuel are scheduled to be regulated under our (and still the nation’s only) ‘cap-and-trade’ system. This scheme is part of the so-called ‘Global Warming Solutions Act,’ a law passed eight years ago to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the pretense of an urgent crisis to save the planet from unsustainably warming temperatures. Californians already pay nearly 50 cents more per gallon of gas than the average American, and this will increase that disparity. And because this tax also applies to diesel fuel, we can expect to see an increased cost to all goods and services delivered by trucks throughout the state.
Additionally, years of mismanagement and misplaced priorities has resulted in a crisis over our state’s water supply. Little recent rain and snowfall combined with our backward policy of placing the concerns of small fish above people has forced California farmers to lose hundreds of thousands of acres of fertile crops due to lack of adequate water allocation; meanwhile the government flushes fresh water out to the ocean. As a result, Californians can expect to see prices at the grocery store continue to rise, especially for the fruits, nuts, and vegetables normally grown so abundantly in the Central Valley.
Furthermore, thanks to a recent bill signed by the Governor, Californians can say “goodbye” to plastic bags at grocery stores used to carry that more expensive food. Though most Californians reuse these bags for a variety of useful purposes, and studies show plastic bags account for a mere 0.5% of littered waste, this did not stop the majority party from imposing their agenda on everyone else by voting to ban these bags statewide. Even worse, the same bill also requires grocery stores to charge no less than 10 cents for each paper bag used in order to change consumer behavior in favor of reusable bags. Never mind that paper bags come from a renewable resource and are recyclable, those in charge seek to dictate your conduct how they see fit.
Decades of bad public policy, making California extremely expensive and unfriendly toward job growth, has driven employers, employees, and their families to more accommodating states like Texas, Nevada, and Arizona. If we wish to restore the shine to our Golden State, we must reverse hundreds of senseless policy decisions and place more trust and respect in the hardworking people of our state. I will continue to call on political leadership in Sacramento to reduce the tax and regulatory burdens on job creators, and to recognize the fallibility of an extremist environmental policy that is suffocating innovation and job growth.
I hope the overtaxed and underappreciated people of California will do their part and make their voices heard on Election Day.
Grove represents the citizens of California’s 34th Assembly District, covering a majority of Kern County.