Name: 'The Governor Had No Answer!': Kevin Kiley Rips Gavin Newsom Over CA Cost Of Living, Gas Prices
Uploaded: 2026-03-01T08:37:27.000Z
Duration: 20 min 58 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Mr. Speaker, over the last month, gas prices in California have risen by about 40 cents.

Adverbs of degree

This is very different from what's going on elsewhere in the country.

In fact, right now, gas prices in California average $4.63, where the national average is $2.97.

California's gas prices are by far the highest in the country.

They're 23 cents higher than the next highest state, Hawaii, which of course is an island state.

Unless you think this is strictly a matter of red states versus blue states or Democrat versus Republican policies, take a look at folks not far from here in Maryland are paying for gas.

The state average is actually $2.98, $1.65 cheaper than in California.

And here are examples of a gas station in California and a gas station in Maryland.

Now, Maryland is actually a bluer state than California is.

And so the reason our citizens in California have to pay so much is because of the uniquely bad policies that we have in California, such as the highest in the nation gas tax, such as a so called cap and trade program, such as regulations around the fuel mix that make it incredibly difficult to source.

All of this has caused two refineries to now leave our state, which is going to spike gas prices even more.

Indeed, it has recently been reported that California is now importing gasoline from the Bahamas, in addition from many other places overseas.

By the way, this gasoline comes in on tankers that run on petroleum.

So the policies of California's politicians have somehow given us the nation's most expensive gas and its most environmentally unfriendly gas.

And on top of all of that, while all of these taxes are supposed to be going towards our roads, we're routinely rated as having among the very worst roads in the entire country.

This is the extraordinary price that Californians pay for political failure to try to provide at least some relief.

I've introduced the Gas Tax Reduction act here in the House, which would place a national cap on how much a state can tax its own citizens for gasoline.

This would save Californians at least 21 cents a gallon right off the bat.

So unsurprisingly, the Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, has come out against it.

But I am hopeful that we can get bipartisan support for this common sense, much needed proposition in this House, get Californians a modicum of relief, and

ultimately change the disastrous policies that have produced this reality for our citizens.

Speaker, I rise today to share the alarming news that in California a serial child molester by the name of David Fungston has been granted early Release.

The parole board has granted parole to Mr.

Funston, a serial child molester who, according to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office, used candy and toys to lure children 7 years old and younger.

He was convicted of 16 counts of kidnapping and child molestation.

According to the sheriff, multiple young children were victimized, some as young as 4 years old.

He was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison, along with three additional consecutive sentences of 25 years to life, with the judge describing him as, quote, the monster parents fear the most.

And yet the parole board has now released him or has recommended his release pursuant to a program known as the Elderly Parole Program that grants eligibility for parole to individuals over the age of 50.

Now, when this program was expanded to include anyone over 50, even for these most heinous and vile of crimes, I was a member of the legislature and voted against, in fact received broad bipartisan opposition.

Yet Governor Gavin Newsom nevertheless signed that bill into law, putting many, many Californians, putting many, many young Californians at risk.

Speaker, this is the outrageous consequence of reckless criminal laws in California that have removed consequences for criminal activity and provided for the early release of tens of thousands of serious, hardened criminals.

We've made some progress in California through a voter initiative to make crime illegal again passed overwhelmingly by California voters in 2024.

But we have a long way to go to reverse the reckless laws that remain on the books and protect Californians from the most heinous of offenders.

Speaker, it is undeniably true that many, many Americans continue to struggle with the cost of living in this country.

But what is also true is that those struggles are not felt uniformly throughout the country, that prices are much higher in certain places than others.

In my own state of California, we have the highest cost of living in the country.

And our governor, Gavin Newsom, was asked about this recently on cnn.

Why does California have the highest cost of living in the country?

It is the state's failed policies that have, through this laboratory of democracy experiment we have in this country, where you can compare the results of different policies side by side, state by state, they have driven up the price of just about everything in California.

So we have the highest gas prices in the country, the highest electricity prices in the country, the second or third highest water bills in the country, the second or third highest grocery prices in the country, the highest taxes in the country, the highest housing costs in all of the continental United States.

Which is why when you look at the Census Bureau's measure, of the real poverty rate, which accounts for the cost of living.

California has the highest poverty rate the entire country.

And by the way, we also have the highest unemployment rate and among the lowest rates of wage growth.

So not only are our residents forced to pay the highest prices, but

they are experiencing the smallest boost in their earning capacity and paychecks.

Now, the policies that have created this unfortunate reality are not difficult to identify.

California taxes its citizens more than any state.

It regulates its businesses more than any state.

It has the worst litigation environment of any state.

It has the most onerous regulations on gas and electricity and energy.

It has failed to build adequate water storage in many, many decades, although we're thankfully changing that.

It places tremendous restrictions and frivolous litigation on building housing, imposes fees that make it cost tens of thousands of dollars before you even break ground.

Which is why Gavin Newsom claimed he was going to build 303.5 million new homes when he came into office and has produced less than 20% of that number.

Speaker, there is a lesson to be learned here when we talk about an affordability agenda that we can pursue here in the House to lower costs and improve the quality of life for folks all across the country.

It is to do the opposite of what states like California have done.

It is to do the opposite of regulating, over, regulating each and every sector.

But instead, we should look to unleash the extraordinary capacity of the people of this country to build, to start businesses, to build housing, to remove the barriers, to be on the side of those who are creating and making life and providing more opportunities to folks all across this country.

We've passed some measures, I think, that are important steps in that direction, but

we should bear in mind the example of California as we move forward with that agenda and seek to raise the quality of life for folks across the country.

Mr. Speaker, the CEO of the California High Speed Rail Authority was recently arrested and placed on leave.

So the rail authority is now on to its sixth CEO.

That means there have been six more CEOs than there have been passengers, because, of course, there haven't been any, any passengers.

Despite sending $17 billion over 17 years, there has been no track laid.

Nevertheless, the Governor recently, with quite a bit of hoopwa, held an event in Kern county to celebrate the fact that a single railhead has now been completed.

And the governor crowed that they are now entering the track laying phase, whatever that might mean.

Mr. Speaker, it is time for the governor to acknowledge what the U.S.

department of Transportation did in a recent compliance review that this project has no viable path forward.

Thankfully, in the House of Representatives, following a bill I introduced to this effect, there was a bipartisan vote to cut off all further federal funding for high speed rail.

There is no viable path forward for the project and I do believe when we have a new governor in the state that the project will finally be wound down.

But taxpayers also deserve answers on where all of this money has gone.

And curiously as we are seeing new scrutiny to answer that question as to where the money is going, the governor is pushing a bill in the legislature to keep records of the project secret to create new exceptions to our public records laws that specifically, specifically apply to high speed rail.

Now that raises the question, I wonder what he doesn't want the public to see.

Speaker, I will continue to fight to assure that our share of federal tax dollars goes towards projects like our roads that will actually benefit Californians now that we've cut off funding for high speed rail and am encouraging leadership at the state level to wind this project down immediately so we don't continue to throw good money after bad.

Speaker, I am grateful to hear that there is going to be an investigation, an audit of the so called next generation 911 system California by the nonpartisan state auditor, or at least this is being requested for several years.

Since 2019, Californians were charged extra fees on their phone bills.

This was to build a next generation 911 system.

So the fees were paid by the taxpayers and they went into a pot of money to build out this system.

And the Newsom administration ultimately spent $450 million building this new 911 system which is needed.

Our system is outdated in California and yet the Newsom administration has just announced it is scrapping the entire project because the technology doesn't work.

By the way, Silicon Valley is a stone throw away from the governor's office.

How do you charge Californians fees for years on their phone bills?

Spend $450 million and get absolutely nothing for it because the technology doesn't work.

So now our taxpayers have lost that money and we still don't have an upgraded 911 system.

We are looking at ways we can bring some scrutiny at the federal level as well.