Fighting for Affordability

Something I am hearing every day in California: the cost of living is crushing families here.

Ask anyone in our district what worries them most, and the high cost of living tops the list.

I’ve been fighting for more affordability in California since my first day in Sacramento and I’ve continued that fight in Washington, DC. Back in 2020, when I introduced legislation to cut taxes for middle class families, small businesses, and renters, I said plainly: “The cost of living in California is driving out so many families to other states because they cannot bear this burden any longer.” That same year, I called out Sacramento for quietly hiking the gas tax by another $440 million without so much as a vote of the Legislature or the public. By 2022, with inflation hammering household budgets and gas topping $5.70 a gallon in parts of our state, I was back at it again, introducing legislation to suspend the state gas tax outright.

Something is wrong in California when the average price of gasoline in our state is $6.21 and the average price in Indiana is $3.89. We know one of the first things our out of state friends do while visiting is they take a photo of California’s gas prices.

I’ve been fighting this fight since I first got to the State Assembly in 2016, long before affordability became the issue everyone’s suddenly talking about. It’s why I’ve spent my time in Congress fighting Sacramento’s hidden climate tax on shipping that drives up prices at the register and the pump. It’s why I fought to pull the plug on California’s $128 billion high-speed rail boondoggle instead of letting it drain resources from roads and water systems that actually serve our families. It’s why I’m fighting the State Water Board every time it tries to raise costs and uncertainty for the farmers who feed this country. It’s why I am working to expand oil and gas production in our community, to invest in California’s energy pipeline infrastructure, and to actually build and expand refining capacity to support increase supplies of needed gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.

I will continue to work every single day to tackle the affordability crisis in California. Let’s invest in water infrastructure to increase needed water supplies for our homes, businesses and farms. Let’s increase California’s gasoline and diesel supplies to lower prices at the pump. Let’s get rid of red tape and bureaucracy that is making everything more expensive. And let’s reduce your tax burden so you keep more of your hard earned money.