CA Imposes Costly “Present Tax” as Christmas Costs Soar Under Gavin Newsom

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and do your wallets feel especially chilly after Christmas shopping yet again? Well, it is not just your imagination — even Santa is having a hard time filling up his sleigh thanks to 2023’s inflation rates on popular Christmas presents and food items.

The most recent data published by the U.S. The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows a 13.5% increase in grocery prices over 2022. On top of that, the cost of clothing — a popular choice for holiday gift-giving — has increased 5.2%.

And the PNC Christmas Price Index, which has calculated the prices of the 12 gifts from the classic song "The Twelve Days of Christmas” every year since 1983, shows that the total cost of all the items — including the partridge in a pear tree — has gone up 20% since California Governor Gavin Newsom took office in 2018.

Carl DeMaio, chairman of Reform California and a candidate for the California State Assembly, says it's no coincidence that these cost increases line up to California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) taking office in 2019 — as well as a large influx of new Democrat leadership across the country after the 2018 U.S. midterm elections.

“Newsom and the Democrats seem to have gifted Californians a new holiday tradition: higher prices and higher taxes!” joked DeMaio. 

“Since taking office, Newsom and Democrats nationally have introduced reckless inflationary policies of costly mandates and high taxes that are hurting our hardworking families,” he explained.

DeMaio points to numerous policies and tax increases that Newsom has implemented, such as several new truck and shipping regulations and gas tax increases that have affected the price of groceries and gifts.

But DeMaio says it's not just the cost of those items that Americans are suffering from this holiday season, and he points to a recent report from the Transparency Foundation. The Foundation found that California’s cost-of-living penalty forces a typical middle class family to pay $26,478.72 more per year to live in California versus if they lived in a state with an average national cost of living.

“Prices are up for everything, especially in California — your energy bill from cooking, your gas and travel costs, costs of clothes and gifts — it goes on and on,” said DeMaio.

“Gavin Newsom and the Democrats have only made California more expensive for its citizens while they coddle criminals and cause huge spikes in violent crime and homelessness — Newsom should be tackling these problems, not making them worse,” continued DeMaio. 

That’s why Carl DeMaio and Reform California are fighting to make California more affordable by fighting against the constant tax hikes imposed by Gavin Newsom.

“We want a future where California families’ Christmas tables are full and their wallets aren't empty — so please join our fight today to make that a reality,” said DeMaio.