Energy soars as a concern of Main Street enterprises in latest NFIB survey
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: John Kabateck, California State Director, [email protected]
or Tony Malandra, Senior Media Manager, [email protected]
SACRAMENTO, Calif., Oct. 15, 2024—Comment from NFIB California State Director John Kabateck on yesterday’s signing of special session Assembly Bill X2- 1 into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Energy prices are no small matter to small businesses, which listed them as their sixth biggest worry in NFIB’s latest Small Business Problems & Priorities report, a 13-place jump from their 2020 ranking of 19th. The report ranks a total of 75 issues.
“Small business owners are doubtful from experience about the efficacy of government intervention in the day-to-day operations of any business. If the Legislature really wanted to do something substantive to battle inflation, it should have reduced the gas tax.
“ABX2-1 aside, every Californian who drives a vehicle for any reason is staring down the barrel of a half-dollar-per-gallon increase in their gas taxes when the California Air Resources Board votes on its Low Carbon Fuel Standards regulation next month. How much more will ABX2-1 exacerbate the problem? It’s no wonder that when NFIB last surveyed its small-business-owning membership, uncertainty was at a historic high.”
“Newsom recently called a special legislative session to consider controversial new controls on state oil refineries, and the California Air Resources Board — the state agency tasked with regulating planet-warming emissions — soon will consider stricter limits on the carbon intensity of fuels.
“In September of last year, CARB estimated that the change could lift gasoline prices 47 cents a gallon, or $6.4 billion a year. Other analysts put the price even higher — 65 cents a gallon, or $8.8 billion a year.
“Now, as CARB nears a November vote on its low carbon fuel standard, or LCFS, the agency is backing away from its price hike forecast. Recently, an air board official told legislators that the 47-cents-a-gallon estimate was just a ‘snapshot’ based on a forecasting model that ‘can never capture real world conditions.’ However, the agency has refused to offer a revised estimate to the public.”
Concluded Kabateck, “Enough is enough. Struggling California small businesses, workers, and families deserve better than government leaders advancing dark-of-night policies that will raise prices and shut more doors on Main Street.”
Keep up with the latest on California small-business news at www.nfib.com/california or by following NFIB on Twitter @NFIB_CA or on Facebook @NFIB.CA.
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For 80 years, NFIB has been advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven association. Since its founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses and remains so today. For more information, please visit nfib.com.
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