(Indivisible CA Green Team ) “We need to fight the Utility Tax all the way. Currently, it is uncapped, which means $24/month is just the start. Utilities have been clear that their intention is have the utility tax rise to $80 a month or more!” Related and just as bad – utility companies use our money to pay for lobbying to ensure that we never actually get affordable clean energy.
BECAUSE OF “FURIOUS CONSTITUENTS BLOWING UP THEIR PHONES”, a group of Democratic lawmakers, including Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, introduced AB 1999, which would cap their tax at $5 for low-income folks, and $10 for others. Then it was “quietly shelved in the Assembly without receiving a single vote,” thanks to Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas.
(Revised 05/10/24) BECAUSE OF YOUR CALLS, AB-1999 IS BACK! – with a compromise – it caps the Utility Tax at $24 a month, limits increases to inflation, and sunsets the tax after three years. Yes, it’s still twice the national utility tax average, BUT IT IS CAPPED! That means it can only rise with the cost of inflation and cannot jump to $70 or $100 a month without legislation (PG&E wanted to START with $92!), and puts the whole process in the public eye. Even with this compromise – a “YES” vote is not an easy lift and the results will be felt by low and medium users first. (Check out the chart below under “Deeper Dive!”) Tell your legislators that you are tired at the endless price-gouging of investor-owned-utilities (IOU) like PG&E!
VOTING IS WEDNESDAY 5/15! Make your calls on Monday and Tuesday!!!