A proposal backed by Democratic lawmakers in California has ignited anger among motorists and Republican legislators, who warn it could ultimately lead to drivers being taxed based on how many miles they travel.
With the state facing a multibillion-dollar budget shortfall and fuel tax revenue shrinking as more residents switch to electric vehicles, Democrats are exploring alternative ways to fund transportation projects.
California motorists already face some of the highest fuel costs in the country. According to the American Automobile Association, the average price of gas in January reached $4.23 per gallon, second only to Hawaii.
On Thursday, lawmakers moved forward with Assembly Bill 1421, sponsored by Democratic Assemblymember Lori Wilson. The bill would instruct the California Transportation Commission and the state Transportation Agency to continue examining mileage-based taxation models, stopping short of actually putting such a tax in place.
Opposition to the measure was visible over the weekend, as activists gathered at Cal Expo in Sacramento to gather signatures against a slate of Democratic tax proposals, including the potential per-mile charge.
“I just got very tense and insecure, because I drive a lot of miles,” said Sherrie Ann Lorenzo, a resident of Chico. “I don’t want to be taxed for driving. It’s my freedom. I live in the home of the free, I thought.”
Ideas outlined in the ongoing study suggest a per-mile fee ranging from two to nine cents. Given that California drivers average about 11,400 miles per year, such a charge could translate into annual costs of roughly $228 to $1,026.
Critics say the financial burden is only part of the concern, warning that monitoring vehicle mileage could prove complicated and raise serious privacy issues.
“This disproportionately hits rural residents and long-distance commuters,” said Republican Assemblymember Alexandra Macedo. “This favors wealthy EV drivers over everyday Californians. We already pay the highest gas tax in the U.S. We shouldn’t be adding a mileage tax on top of it.”
Bruce Lou, a delegate with the San Francisco and state Republican Party, also condemned the proposal online.
“This per-mile tax would be on top of the highest gas taxes in the country,” Lou wrote on X. “Citizens shouldn’t be treated like ATMs.”
Republican Assemblymember Carl DeMaio of San Diego sharply criticized AB 1421 during remarks on the Assembly floor Thursday.
“When you add up the car tax, the gas tax, and this new mileage tax, a working family with two cars and two parents driving could be forced to pay $4,200 a year to the state of California just for the privilege of driving on crappy roads,” DeMaio said. “What are we thinking here?”
Wilson has pushed back against the criticism, characterizing it as politically driven and saying the legislation reflects unavoidable fiscal realities.
“California’s transportation funding system is becoming less stable, less equitable, and less sustainable as more drivers switch to fuel-efficient and zero-emission vehicles,” she said.
She added that she is “committed” to revising AB 1421 to prevent drivers from being taxed twice through both fuel taxes and mileage-based fees.
As written, the bill would order a detailed report examining equity issues affecting low-income drivers who often travel longer distances in less efficient vehicles, evaluate the impact of a weight-based per-mile charge on commercial and electric vehicles, and review regional and statewide options for implementing a road usage tax.
Similar mileage-based systems have already been tested or adopted elsewhere. Oregon and Utah operate voluntary programs, Hawaii is gradually introducing a mandatory charge for electric vehicles, and Washington and Colorado have run pilot projects while weighing long-term alternatives to fuel taxes.
Concerns about privacy, billing errors, rural drivers, low-income households, and out-of-state motorists are expected to remain central to the debate.
Republican Rep. Darrell Issa warned that the bill could open the door to intrusive government surveillance, calling it “a tool for future control.”
“To collect the tax, the government will amass a database of everywhere a car goes,” Issa wrote. “Church? Political rallies? Gun ranges? Fast food?”
For now, lawmakers have yet to provide clear answers to those concerns.
{Matzav.com}Iran’s supreme leader issued a sharp warning on Sunday, saying any military action by the United States would trigger a “regional war” across the Middle East, heightening tensions as President Donald Trump has openly threatened strikes against the Islamic Republic.
The remarks by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, marked his most explicit threat to date, coming as the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and other American warships operate in the Arabian Sea. The deployment followed Trump’s decision to move naval forces after Tehran’s violent suppression of nationwide protests.
Whether Trump will ultimately authorize the use of force remains uncertain. He has repeatedly said Iran is interested in negotiations and has pointed to Tehran’s nuclear program as another central issue he wants addressed.
Khamenei, however, also described the ongoing demonstrations as “a coup,” signaling a tougher official stance as reports indicate tens of thousands of people have been detained since protests erupted.
In Iran, charges of sedition can carry the death penalty, renewing fears that Tehran could carry out mass executions of detainees — a development Trump has described as a red line.
At the same time, Iran had scheduled live-fire military exercises for Sunday and Monday in the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, the narrow passage linking the Persian Gulf to global markets and used for roughly one-fifth of the world’s traded oil.
The US military’s Central Command warned Tehran not to threaten American vessels or aircraft during the drills or interfere with commercial shipping.
Iranian state television first reported Khamenei’s statements online before broadcasting footage of his speech.
“The Americans should know that if they start a war, this time it will be a regional war,” Khamenei was quoted as saying.
It added that he also declared: “We are not the instigators and we do not seek to attack any country. But the Iranian nation will deliver a firm blow to anyone who attacks or harasses it.”
Khamenei further hardened his rhetoric toward the protests, after previously acknowledging that some demonstrators were driven by genuine economic grievances. The unrest began on Dec. 28, initially sparked by the collapse of Iran’s rial, before quickly evolving into a broader challenge to his rule.
“The recent sedition was similar to a coup. Of course, the coup was suppressed,” he said. “Their goal was to destroy sensitive and effective centers involved in running the country, and for this reason they attacked the police, government centers, (Revolutionary Guard) facilities, banks and mosques — and burned copies of the Quran. They targeted centers that run the country.”
Separately, Iran’s parliament speaker said the Islamic Republic now considers all European Union militaries to be terrorist organizations, responding to the bloc’s decision to designate Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard as a terror group over its crackdown on protesters.
Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, a former Guard commander, announced the move, which is expected to be largely symbolic.
Iran has relied on a 2019 law to reciprocally label other nations’ militaries as terrorist groups after the United States designated the Guard as a terror organization that year.
Qalibaf made the announcement as he and other lawmakers donned Guard uniforms in a show of support for the force, which controls Iran’s ballistic missile program and extensive economic interests and answers directly to Khamenei.
“By seeking to strike at the (Guard), which itself has been the greatest barrier to the spread of terrorism to Europe, Europeans have in fact shot themselves in the foot and, once again, through blind obedience to the Americans, decided against the interests of their own people,” Qalibaf said.
Lawmakers later shouted slogans of “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!” during the session.
Trump has publicly outlined two red lines that could prompt military action: the killing of peaceful protesters or the mass execution of those detained during the crackdown.
He has also increasingly focused on Iran’s nuclear program, which the US had negotiated with Tehran over multiple rounds of talks before Israel launched a 12-day war with Iran in June.
During that conflict, the US bombed three Iranian nuclear facilities. Activity observed at two of the sites has raised suspicions that Iran may be attempting to obscure satellite imagery as it works to preserve what remains.
Trump said Saturday night that he had not yet decided how to proceed on Iran.
Speaking with reporters aboard a flight to Florida, Donald Trump sidestepped a question about whether Tehran would feel emboldened if Washington refrained from striking, saying, “Some people think that. Some people don’t.”
He added that Iran should negotiate a “satisfactory” agreement to prevent it from obtaining nuclear weapons, but cautioned, “I don’t know that they will. But they are talking to us. Seriously talking to us.”
Late Saturday, senior Iranian security official Ali Larijani wrote on X that “structural arrangements for negotiations are progressing.” There has been no public indication of direct talks with the United States, something Khamenei has repeatedly ruled out.
{Matzav.com}A heavy pall of mourning has descended upon the Chassidic world, and the courts of Lelov in particular, following the sudden passing of Rav Yissachar Dov Biderman, the Lelover Rebbe zt”l. The Rebbe collapsed while immersing in a mikvah. He was 84 years old.
The Rebbe arrived earlier today, as was his custom, to immerse in the private mikvah located at the Lelover beis medrash on Rechov Tzefania Street in Yerushalayim. After he remained in the water longer than usual, those accompanying him raised the alarm. Emergency medical teams were summoned and carried out prolonged resuscitation efforts, but tragically, doctors were forced to declare his petirah.
Paramedic Naftali Sofer of Hatzalah, together with emergency medical technicians Yosef Herpaz and Kobi Marder, described the scene: “When we arrived, we found a man unconscious, without a pulse or respiration. Witnesses told us he had been pulled from the water in that condition. Together with additional paramedics and EMTs from MDA and Hatzalah, we immediately began advanced resuscitation efforts, including chest compressions, assisted ventilation, and life-saving medications. Sadly, despite all efforts, MDA paramedics were forced to pronounce his passing at the scene.”
Reb Bentzi Oiring, commander of the Yerushalayim district of ZAKA, stated: “The Rebbe collapsed in the mikvah of the Lelover Chassidus on Rechov Tzefania in Yerushalayim. His attendants, noticing that he was delayed for an extended period, called emergency services. MDA teams confirmed his passing. ZAKA volunteers are operating at the scene, ensuring that kavod hameis is fully preserved.”
Following his petirah, the niftar was brought into the Lelover beis medrash, where the paroches was removed and candles were lit around him.
The levayah is scheduled to take place this evening, departing from the Kedushas Mordechai Lelov beis medrash at 39 Rechov Bar Ilan in Yerushalayim, and proceeding to Har Haceisim. The levayah is expected to begin after 8:00 p.m., following the arrival of the Rebbe’s son on a flight from London.
Rav Yissachar Dov Biderman was born in Yerushalayim on the 10th of Kislev, 5702 (1941), to his father, the Lelover Rebbe, Rav Moshe Mordechai Biderman, and his mother, Rebbetzin Ettel, of the Schwartz family.
At his bris, he was named Yissachar Dov after the Belzer Rebbe. As a young child, he moved with his family to Tel Aviv, where his father relocated from the Batei Varsha neighborhood of Yerushalayim. He studied at the Belzer cheder and later in the Belzer yeshivah, eventually learning in the Lelover yeshivah in Yerushalayim’s Beis Yisrael neighborhood, where he distinguished himself as one of its outstanding talmidim.
After his marriage, he continued to immerse himself in limud haTorah and supported his family by writing Sifrei Torah. Known for his ascetic lifestyle, the Rebbe was entirely devoted to avodas hakodesh. Those close to him described him as exceptionally gentle and refined, visibly carrying forward the sacred path and spiritual bearing of his father. He was especially renowned for his profound ahavas Yisrael, in the tradition of the Lelover rebbes from the dynasty’s founder, Rav Dovid’l of Lelov, onward.
In later years, he assumed the mantle of leadership as Lelover Rebbe and headed the Kedushas Mordechai Lelov beis medrash on Rechov Bar Ilan in Yerushalayim, which was established in 2007. His chassidim reside throughout Israel and around the world, and many would travel to participate in his tishen on yahrtzeits and Yomim Tovim. On Motzaei Shabbos, following Havdalah, the Rebbe was known to distribute cigarettes to those present, a custom remembered fondly by his followers.
The Rebbe’s sudden passing comes just two days before the yahrtzeit of his brother, the Lelover Rebbe Rav Avraham Shlomo Biderman, who passed away on the 16th of Shevat in 5760.
He is survived by his family and many descendants who continue his sacred path, as well as his brothers, the Lelover rebbes of Nikolsburg and Lelov Ezras Torah.
Yehi zichro boruch.
