The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Crescent City Times.com
By Kevin Kiley – March 23, 2026
Georgia has just suspended its state gas tax. In a House floor speech, I called on Newsom and the Legislature to do the same immediately and save our drivers 61 cents per gallon. In the meantime, my Gas Tax Reduction Act would give us some measure of relief.
Meanwhile, you may have seen the viral moment I had with Stephen A. Smith. He was absolutely “stunned,” expressing utter disbelief, when I told him that an ID is not required to register or to vote in California – and that Newsom signed a law actively forbidding Voter ID.
Following the Smith exchange, I discussed on Fox how crazy it is that Voter ID is an issue at all. In the rest of the world showing ID is an administrative requirement, not a political stance. The fact Congress can’t enact a policy with 80% public support is a sign of how broken things are.
I pointed to another such sign on CNN’s Sunday Show: that Congress still hasn’t funded the Department of Homeland Security during a time of heightened threats. Though I did note good news: we’ve gotten support for ending Sanctuary policies, passing a bill through Judiciary.
In other good news, the Education Committee passed two bills I’m sponsoring. The No Aid for Ghost Students Act stamps out California’s community college financial aid fraud. While Newsom did nothing about 1.2 million fake applicants, our bill passed in a bipartisan vote.
In addition, we passed a bill I’m sponsoring to help fix California’s highest-in-the-nation illiteracy rate by having schools teach reading correctly. And in Transportation, we passed Delilah’s Law to prevent those here illegally from getting commercial driver’s licenses.
Finally, Newsom’s reckless laws and runaway Parole Board are again getting our citizens killed. A double murderer was let free after serving half his sentence, then promptly murdered again. I’m calling for a full review of our state’s early release laws and of the Parole Board’s decisions.
Kevin Kiley
California Congressman
