Californias political class has once again found a way to make life more expensive for the people who simply want to drive to work, take their kids to school, and fill up their tanks without being treated like a bottomless ATM.
According to RedState, California motorists already shoulder some of the steepest burdens in the country, from sky-high gas taxes and DMV fees to a regulatory regime that has driven refineries out of the state and into friendlier jurisdictions like Texas. Now, on top of that, the California Energy Commission has moved to adopt new rules on replacement tires that would remove roughly 70 percent of the current inventory from the market in favor of more expensive options, further inflating the cost of basic transportation for ordinary families.
The latest insult comes in the form of a quiet budget maneuver that could force drivers to bankroll personal security details for politicians long after they leave office. Taxpayers have already been compelled to underwrite the security entourage for former Vice President and failed presidential candidate Kamala Harris as she embarked on a book tour last spring, with officials refusing to disclose how much it cost, how many officers were assigned, or even whether the operation is still ongoing, all under the familiar pretext of safety concerns.
Looking ahead to January 2027, when Governor Gavin Newsom is termed out and likely to be devoting his time to podcasts and a presumed presidential run, Californians may soon find themselves paying for his protection as well. KCRAs Ashley Zavala, one of the few Sacramento reporters willing to press the impeccably groomed governor with difficult questions, uncovered that lawmakers have carved out a new pot of money for security that could directly benefit Newsom and other current and former officeholders.
California lawmakers set aside $20 million in transportation funds this year for current and former state elected officials, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, if they need state highway patrol officers to serve as their personal security detail. The appropriation is buried as a line item in a 300-page spending bill that legislators approved on a Tuesday morning after quietly filing it late on a Saturday night, a timing pattern that has become all too familiar to anyone watching Sacramentos budget games.
The money specifically provides California Highway Patrol officers to serve as the personal security for current or former elected officials and their families, depending on the results of a threat assessment. KCRA 3 was the first to report the plan Monday night. In other words, a law-enforcement agency funded by drivers fees and ostensibly dedicated to public safety on the roads is being repurposed as a taxpayer-funded bodyguard service for the political elite.
NEW: California drivers could pay for Gavin Newsom's personal security when he's out of office. CALeg Tuesday will vote on a big spending bill with this $20 million item tucked in there allowing current former/ elected officials to have CHP officers.https://t.co/unvpGtApIv That social media warning captured the essence of the scheme: a massive spending bill, a discreet line item, and a direct hit to the wallets of motorists who are already overtaxed and overregulated.
Many Californians might reasonably ask why the California Highway Patrol is even in the business of guarding politicians in the first place. The answer lies in bureaucratic mission creep: the CHP merged with the California State Police in 1995 and has since been tasked with protective duties, including guarding the Capitol, the governor, and other state officials, a far cry from the motorcycle officers popularized by television.
What is far less reasonable is the decision to tap the very people struggling under the states transportation costs to pay for this expanded security umbrella. The money would specifically come out of the state's motor vehicle account, which drivers pay into through registration fees, Zavala wrote, meaning that every car owner in California is being conscripted into subsidizing the safety of politicians who often seem indifferent to the financial strain their policies impose.
Officials have declined to say whether Newsom himself plans to take advantage of the new funding, dodging direct questions on the matter. "We unfortunately live in a time when threats and political violence against public officials are very real and, on the rise," said Brandon Richards, a spokesman for the governor's office.
"Protecting current and former officials facing credible threats as a result of their public service has long been a bipartisan notion, and these security decisions are based solely on threat assessments by law enforcement." No one disputes that genuine threats must be taken seriously, but the question is why the bill for that protection should be handed to drivers rather than to the politicians own well-funded campaign accounts or to the general fund.
California law already permits campaign funds to be used for security, and Newsom in particular is sitting on a sizable political war chest. The decision to raid the motor vehicle account instead looks less like a necessity and more like a choice to punish the drivers who have become the states favorite revenue source whenever Sacramento needs cash.
Republican lawmakers, unsurprisingly, are sounding the alarm about both the policy and the fiscal health of the account being tapped. The State Senate's Republican Vice Chairman of the Budget Committee, Roger Niello, told KCRA 3 in an interview Monday night, the account is forecast to be bankrupt in 2 to 3 years.
"It is in my opinion inappropriate, and it might even be unconstitutional," Niello said He went on to point out that Newsom hardly lacks the means to pay for his own security if needed: "He has a sizable account for his campaign," Niello noted. "As opposed to the people paying their registration fees paying for that."
For those who actually live and drive in California, the cumulative effect of these policies is demoralizing. Being a driver in Cali is tough, I cant lie.
We pay through the nose for the privilege, sometimes we cant avoid the Barack H. Obama Highway, and we go to bed at night knowing that we paid to secure Kamalas embarrassment of a book tour. Now we may be coughing up to pay for a soon-to-be ex-governor who drove the state into the ground.
Yet even amid the frustration, there is a certain measure of consolation for conservatives watching the broader national landscape shift. I have some consolation, however: I can grin over crying liberals who cant find another landing spot and have to choose the newly renamed President Donald J. Trump International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida.
It would be extra special if they had to depart from Washington, D.C.s Reagan National. Heartwarming.
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