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Xavier Becerra accused of plotting sneaky $900-a-year tax on California drivers: ‘They just want more money’

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Koehn, J. (2026, November 11). Xavier Becerra accused of plotting sneaky $900-a-year tax on California drivers: ‘They just want more money’. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/11/10/us-news/xavier-becerra-accused-of-plotting-sneaky-900-a-year-tax-on-california-drivers-they-just-want-more-money/

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New York Post · collected 2026-11-11 · by Josh Koehn

Quick Summary

Republican lawmaker Carl DeMaio claims that Governor-elect Xavier Becerra and other Democrats in California are planning to introduce a mileage-based tax on drivers, potentially costing motorists $900 annually at 6 cents per mile driven. DeMaio argues this would be an additional tax on top of existing gas taxes and car taxes. He cites Becerra’s previous statement that “everything should be on the table” regarding road funding as evidence of his support for such a measure, despite Becerra’s campaign denying he has proposed a mileage tax. DeMaio warns that annual odometer checks might be required to enforce this new charge.
Written by AI on 2026-11-11, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Governor-elect Xavier Becerra and Democratic lawmakers in California are facing criticism from Republican Assemblymember Carl DeMaio of San Diego, who claims they are planning to impose a new $900-a-year tax on drivers. DeMaio warns that this mileage-based tax could be implemented alongside existing gas taxes, burdening motorists already struggling with high transportation costs. Becerra previously suggested during an interview in October that "everything should be on the table" for maintaining California’s roads, leading to speculation about a potential mileage tax proposal. Despite these comments, Becerra's campaign has denied proposing such a tax, stating that it has not been officially endorsed by Secretary Becerra.

Written for “Xavier Becerra Accused Of Tax Plotting” on 2026-11-11, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.40, but 2 quote(s) could not be found in the article and the other 2 are attributed speech rather than the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 143639: no verified evidence · logged 2026-11-11

Story

Xavier Becerra Accused Of Tax Plotting
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

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Claims extracted
22
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
5%
1 of 22 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
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Publisher

New York Post · 18722 article(s) · 39 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 39 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Josh Koehn
30 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
Assemblymember Carl DeMaio (R-San Diego), told the California Post that Governor-elect Xavier Becerra and Democratic lawmakers are “champing at the bit” to charge motorists by the mile, potentially using annual odometer checks to calculate bills he warns could come on top of existing gas taxes.
The former Newsom aide — Ballard served as Newsom’s mayoral communications director from 2007 to 2010, a tumultuous time following revelations of Newsom’s scandalous affair with a married staffer — said he has maintained continuous sobriety since 2020 and completed four years of supervised probation in 2025 “with zero violations.”
So I will take this very seriously,” Becerra said.
Hilton said he would consider another run for office after losing to Democrat Xavier Becerra, promising to keep pushing for relief from California’s high costs.
Regan, who serves as president of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, led an unprecedented effort this year to levy a one-time tax on the state’s billionaires, kicking off a nearly $400 million fight on three connected state ballot measures. And if that shellacking wasn’t bad enough, Regan’s other pet ballot measure — Prop. 44, which could have forced community health clinics to spend 90% of their revenues on program services — was rejected by 82% of voters.
At the epicenter of the tech revolution, San Francisco’s next congressional representative will have an important voice in shaping the conversation on how to regulate AI.
Even Los Angeles County is ahead of its 2022 pace, Mitchell said, despite that year’s competitive mayoral contest featuring Rick Caruso, whose candidacy helped draw Republican voters but ended in defeat.
The proposal would allow qualifying productions to claim credits for so-called above-the-line compensation, including pay for actors, directors, writers and producers.
Hankey employees around 2,000 people in Southern California, telling Forbes in January his HQ will stay in LA for now.
Becerra joined San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie at a Friday morning reception, before heading south to share the stage with Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday at Hollywood’s Palladium.
Also by Josh Koehn
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 30 articles by Josh Koehn →

Topics

California Democrats Republican San Diego the California Post

Subjects

Becerra PERSON · 6× DeMaio PERSON · 5× California GPE · 2× Democrats NORP · 2× Republican NORP · 2× San Diego GPE · 2× the California Post ORG · 2× Carl DeMaio PERSON · 1× Democratic NORP · 1× Xavier Becerra PERSON · 1×

Narrative

DeMaio said Becerra’s willingness to consider charging motorists by the mile should alarm Californians already struggling to afford the drive to work, particularly those who live far from their jobs because housing closer to employment centers is too expensive.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-11
Assemblymember Carl DeMaio (R-San Diego), told the California Post that Governor-elect Xavier Becerra and Democratic lawmakers are “champing at the bit” to charge motorists by the mile, potentially using annual odometer checks to calculate bills he warns could come on top of existing gas taxes.

Claims (22 extracted, 1 hedged)

California’s mileage tax study is approaching the finish line — and a prominent Republican lawmaker warns Democrats are preparing to reach deeper into drivers’ wallets. asserted
Democrats → approach → wallets
Assemblymember Carl DeMaio (R-San Diego), told the California Post that Governor-elect Xavier Becerra and Democratic lawmakers are “champing at the bit” to charge motorists by the mile, potentially using annual odometer checks to calculate bills he warns could come on top of existing gas taxes. uncertain
he → tell → taxes
“They’re proposing everyone does a mileage tax — and they’re not suggesting that we’re going to get rid of any of the gas taxes or car taxes,” DeMaio told the California Post. asserted
DeMaio → propose → Post
Becerra reignited the debate during an October interview with KCRA, saying “everything should be on the table” when asked whether he would support a mileage-based tax to maintain California’s roads. asserted
he → reignite → roads
He argued electric vehicle owners, who sidestep paying gas taxes, should help pay for the infrastructure they use. asserted
they → argue → infrastructure
Becerra’s campaign subsequently pushed back on characterizations he had backed a mileage tax. asserted
he → push → tax
“Secretary Becerra has not proposed a mileage tax,” campaign spokesperson Jonathan Underland previously told The Post. asserted
Underland → propose → Post
Officials for Becerra did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday. asserted
Officials → respond → comment
DeMaio said Becerra’s willingness to consider charging motorists by the mile should alarm Californians already struggling to afford the drive to work, particularly those who live far from their jobs because housing closer to employment centers is too expensive. asserted
housing → say → centers
DeMaio argued Becerra’s past remarks showed more than a willingness to consider options. asserted
remarks → argue → options
“He said, ‘everything’s on the table,’ and then he started arguing in favor of it,” DeMaio said. asserted
DeMaio → say → it
“He literally was making the argument for the mileage tax.” asserted
He → make → tax
“Democrats know that there are all these old cars on the road, and they cannot track mileage for old cars,” he said. asserted
he → know → cars
The backup is you’re going to have to pull your car in annually for a smog check or a mileage odometer reading, and that will be the basis of your charge. asserted
that → go → charge
At 6 cents per mile, a motorist driving 15,000 miles annually would owe at least $900 before any credits or offsets, DeMaio said. asserted
DeMaio → drive → credits
The San Diego Republican pointed to a contentious fight in his home county, where the San Diego Association of Governments adopted a regional transportation plan in December 2021 that included a potential charge on motorists for each mile driven. asserted
that → point → mile
Following public backlash, the agency’s board directed staff in September 2022 to prepare an amendment removing the proposed charge. asserted
board → follow → charge
The board formally adopted the amended plan in fall 2023. asserted
board → adopt → fall
The Legislature is now awaiting recommendations from a road charge pilot program that ran from August 2024 through January 2025. asserted
that → await → January
The pilot tested different ways of counting miles, including odometer photographs, connected-vehicle technology and plug-in devices with or without GPS. asserted
pilot → test → GPS
Caltrans said participants’ personal information would be protected and destroyed after the study. asserted
information → say → study
Officials for the Department of Transportation did not respond to The Post’s requests for comment. asserted
Officials → respond → comment
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