These Laws Were Passed Years Ago. Families Are Paying for Them Now...

Media
Jan 8
2 min read

One of the most frustrating things I hear from families is this: “How did California get so expensive — and why does it feel like no one is accountable?”

The truth is, a lot of the damage being done today comes from laws passed quietly years ago, with deadlines pushed far into the future so the political consequences wouldn’t hit until much later. That “later” is now.

Take gas prices.

Click on image for more information | Image by AAA

In 2014, Sacramento passed Senate Bill 445, signed by then-Governor Jerry Brown. It required owners of older, single-walled underground fuel tanks to permanently close or replace them by December 31, 2025. At the time, that deadline felt distant. Today, it means many gas stations — especially small, independent stations — are being forced to shut down because they can’t afford the massive upgrade costs.

Fewer gas stations means less competition.

Less competition means higher prices.

Families pay the difference.

That’s not speculation — that’s basic economics.

At the same time, Sacramento has spent the last few years openly targeting oil refineries with new “crackdown” laws, even while admitting there was no proven wrongdoing.

In 2023, Governor Gavin Newsom called a special legislative session that resulted in Senate Bill X1-2, creating the Division of Petroleum Market Oversight. The state hired teams of prosecutors, economists, and enforcement attorneys to investigate supposed price gouging.

After months of investigations and a 60-plus-page report, the conclusion was clear:

No price gouging. No market manipulation. No crime.

But the regulatory burden remained.

Then in 2024, Sacramento doubled down with another special session, passing Assembly Bill X2-1, which gave the state authority to dictate fuel inventory levels and impose even more compliance requirements on refineries — all while California still has 28 million gas-powered vehicles on the road and nowhere near enough alternatives.

The predictable result?

Refineries are closing.

Phillips 66 is shutting down its Los Angeles refinery.

Valero is closing its Benicia refinery in 2026.

When refineries close, California must import more fuel from overseas. Imported fuel costs more to ship, more to process, and more to deliver. Those costs don’t disappear — they show up at the pump.

And it doesn’t stop there.

We’re seeing the same delayed-impact incompetence with trash and utility bills. Laws passed a decade ago to mandate organic waste separation are now fully in effect — forcing cities to buy new equipment, create new systems, and raise sanitation fees on residents and small businesses.

Sacramento passes the law.

Bureaucracies expand.

Costs rise.

Families pay.

And when people get angry, politicians point to the law and say, “It wasn’t us.”

But it was.

These policies weren’t accidental. They were choices — made without honest cost-benefit analysis, without accountability, and without concern for the people who would eventually foot the bill.

California families don’t need more performative regulations or political theater. They need leadership grounded in reality, affordability, and responsibility.

And they deserve leaders willing to say what Sacramento won’t: You can’t regulate your way to affordability — and you can’t keep blaming everyone else when families are the ones suffering.