Valley drivers need a break on gas. Gavin Newsom must exempt them from tax hikes | Opinion
It was nice to see Gov. Gavin Newsom make the trip to Fresno recently to receive a new 500-page report focused on generating future jobs and clean energy in the central San Joaquin Valley.
The Sierra San Joaquin Jobs Initiative, as the report is called, calls on the state and private sources to make a $58 billion investment in the region through 2045. In return, the initiative promises an economic impact of $99 billion in the form of 138,000 new jobs, increased clean energy capacity, reduced air pollution impacts and community revitalization.
The report encompasses strategies for Fresno, Madera, Tulare and Kings counties. It is the first regional initiative to be submitted to Newsom; 12 other regions in the state are finishing their reports now.
“It’s not talking about the economy,” Newsom said of the Fresno report. “It is talking about people. It is not talking about the macro economic conditions. It is talking about the micro lived reality of people in regions like yours.
“So I am really excited to put this into practice. To support these new grant applications. And to continue to support this region.”
One immediate way Newsom could help the people of the San Joaquin Valley is by lessening the price of gas, especially in response to a recent decision by the California Air Resources Board. That regulatory agency’s board, meeting just days after the presidential election, voted to impose new requirements for cleaner-burning fuels that oil companies say will jack up prices even more.
California already has the nation’s second-highest gas prices (behind Hawaii) despite having the most drivers. On Monday, Nov. 25, the statewide average for a gallon of unleaded was $4.44; the national average was $3.05, according to AAA’s fuel tracker. Fresno and Madera counties’ per-gallon average stood at $4.41. Tulare was $4.36, while Kings was $4.24.
No matter where gas is purchased, however, $1.41 of every gallon is due to state and federal taxes.
Higher costs from air board action
With the the air board’s recent action, its staff has said another 37 cents increase in the cost of gas might result from now until 2030. In 2031, the price hike could rise to $1.15 per gallon.
Add the 37 cents to Monday’s average price in Fresno and the cost of a gallon of gas increases to $4.78. By 2031, that same gallon might cost $5.93.
After the jobs report was presented, Newsom took some questions from reporters. The Bee’s Erik Galicia asked the governor about the low-carbon fuel standard.
As reported by Galicia: “The democratic governor rejected the notion that gas prices will see a sudden spike related to the air board’s decision and took aim at the oil industry, which he said has fooled Californians for years on the topic of gasoline prices.”
Newsom said price hikes happen when producers unreasonably gouge motorists for profit.
Valley drivers need a break on gas
Whether oil companies or taxes are to blame for California’s high prices for gas, no one disputes that the four counties highlighted in the report comprise one of the state’s poorest regions.
Twenty-two percent of residents in Fresno and Madera counties live in poverty, according to the Census Bureau. The poverty rate in Kings and Tulare counties hovers around 18%.
Educational achievement is also lacking in the region, so residents in the central San Joaquin Valley cannot compete for well-paying jobs and thus are ill-equipped to afford price hikes as projected last year by the air board’s staff (the board now refuses to make a cost prediction).
Many of the Valley’s workers toil in farming, either in fields or in food-processing plants. They literally tend or make food that feeds America and foreign markets. Many drive long distances to get to job sites, yet get paid low wages.
If Newsom does care about Valley residents, he should soften the blow to their cost of living by:
▪ Exempting the four counties from gas-price hikes resulting from the air board’s new regulations.
▪ Offering grants or extra tax credits to local drivers to buy electric vehicles, saving them from buying gas while also improving air quality.
The Sierra San Joaquin Jobs Initiative report says “the aspirations and investment strategies proposed in this plan represent transformational change for the region’s economy.”
Those dreams will be harder to realize if buying gas is an unreasonable burden.