California hates drivers.
The Golden State regularly faces the highest gas taxes in the nation — same with DMV fees — they’ve driven refineries to Texas and elsewhere as they flee a punitive regulatory environment, and the California Energy Commission voted earlier in August to adopt new rules on replacement tires that would take 70 percent of the currently available stock off the market in favor of, you guessed it, higher priced wheels.
Taxpayers were also on the hook to fund former Vice President and failed presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ security detail as she went on a book tour last spring. Officials refuse to disclose details of the cost, the number of officers assigned, or even if it’s still ongoing, citing safety concerns.
Come January '27, when Newsom is termed out and will presumably be focusing full time on podcasts and a likely presidential campaign, taxpayers may have to pay up for his security too.
KCRA’s Ashley Zavala, one of the rare Sacramento reporters who asks the exquisitely coiffed governor the tough questions, reports:
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 funding is a line item tucked into a 300-page spending bill state lawmakers approved on Tuesday morning after filing it on Saturday night.
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.
NEW: California drivers could pay for Gavin Newsom's personal security when he's out of office.
— Ashley Zavala (@ZavalaA) September 1, 2026
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
Why the heck would the Highway Patrol supply protection to former and current politicians? Turns out the name is misleading: they don’t just ride motorcycles down the freeway like the CHiPS guys; the department 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.
What doesn’t make sense to me, though, is why that cash comes out of the pockets of people just trying to drive to work or drop their kids off at school. “The money would specifically come out of the state's motor vehicle account, which drivers pay into through registration fees,” Zavala wrote.
It’s unclear whether the governor will take advantage of the funds, and officials refused to answer that question.
"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."
California already allows campaign funds to be used for security, and Newsom has a large war chest, so why punish the drivers?
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 has a sizable account for his campaign," Niello noted. "As opposed to the people paying their registration fees paying for that."
Being a driver in Cali is tough, I can’t lie. We pay through the nose for the privilege, sometimes we can’t avoid the Barack H. Obama Highway, and we go to bed at night knowing that we paid to secure Kamala’s 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.
I have some consolation, however: I can grin over crying liberals who can’t 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.
Editor’s Note: Gavin Newsom wants to turn America into one big version of California - a failed, overtaxed, dystopian nightmare.
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