(The Center Square) – California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office is urging lawmakers to reject Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to grant state regulators broad authority to impose climate fees, citing a lack of justification and excessive delegation of legislative power.
The California Air Resources Board recently approved a $162 billion cost increase for the Low Carbon Fuel Standard credit program, requiring producers of fuels with higher emissions than a rising standard to pay, while rewarding producers of lower-emission fuels.
The Republican and Democratic governors respectively of Nevada and Arizona jointly issued a letter against the standards, claiming it would lead to fuel price hikes and shortages for their residents who rely on California-made fuel.
The California Office of Administrative Law has placed the new LCFS standard, expected to increase gasoline costs by up to $1.15 per gallon by the end of the year, on temporary hold. CARB, however, has pledged to make necessary technical or substantive fixes to advance the standard, highlighting its extensive regulatory reach.
The LAO warns that Newsom’s requested legislation would cede greater financial control to CARB, consolidating more power for the governor, who appoints all but two of CARB’s voting members.
“The Governor proposes budget trailer legislation that would provide CARB with broad authority to levy fees on the entities it regulates to recover the costs of developing, implementing, and enforcing air pollution and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction-related programs and regulations,” the LAO wrote. “We do not believe that CARB has provided a compelling rationale for why it needs such a broad expansion in its authority to assess fees. Moreover, we find that the proposal would delegate too much legislative control and authority to the administration.”
“Accordingly, we recommend the Legislature reject the proposed legislation,” the LAO added.
Newsom has criticized Trump’s centralization of federal executive power as an overreach on California’s legislative authority, holding a “Trump-proofing” special session of the legislature earlier this year to secure legal funding to resist the Trump administration.
In contrast, Newsom’s CARB expansion would grant California’s administrative state — and the governor — greater financial power to impose de facto taxes, bypassing legislative oversight and undermining the constitutional “power of the purse” reserved for the legislature.
