Walz Admin paid $72 per hour for a report leaving out obvious gas price increases from California Fuel Standard

Center of the American Experiment has obtained documents from the Minnesota Department of Transportation (DOT) using a Freedom of Information request showing the Walz Administration paid nearly $72 per hour, for a total of $25,000, to WSB consulting for a study on the new California fuel regulations that the Walz administration is seeking to enact in Minnesota.

Amazingly, this “study” omitted any mention of how a California Fuel Standard (CFS) would increase gas prices by 20 cents per gallon in the near term and 54 cents per gallon by 2035. You can see the final invoice between DOT and WSB below.

WSB-Final-InvoiceDownload

The so-called study explicitly punts on the question of how enacting a CFS would increase the pain Minnesotans are feeling at the pump.

It is difficult to believe that the administration does not know that this policy will increase the cost of gasoline, but they likely know that pushing a CFS is a political loser, something they are particularly sensitive to in an election year.

If enacted, we can expect the cost of gas to increase the annual cost of driving by $210 to $568 per household per year if we follow the California regulations, but if the Minnesota House DFL version of the legislation is put forward, it will increase the annual cost of driving by an additional $380 to $710 per year in additional gasoline costs by 2030.

If I had to guess, I would say that the Walz administration likely understands that this policy will increase the cost of gasoline and diesel fuel, but they do not want this information to be widely available due to the record-high gas prices Minnesotans are experiencing.

While this strategy may be savvy politics in an election year, hiding their intention to enact costly new regulations is an exceedingly cynical way to govern.

Any time a politician, regardless of party, proposes a new regulation on Minnesotans, the first question they should have to answer is, “how much will it cost?” Unfortunately, the Walz administration paid WSB $72 per hour not to tell us.