By Antonio Ray Harvey, California Black Media
Housing, energy, food and gas are four essential household expenses, and their rising costs are forcing residents—especially lower-income households—to make difficult trade-offs, Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom (D-Stockton) said at a conference on affordability last week in Sacramento.
Ransom, a member of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC), noted a shift in consumer behavior, stating, “Before people used to choose between things that they wanted and things that they needed.”
“Now, what we’re hearing from constituents is they are prioritizing their needs differently,” she said. “Because of the affordability crisis, it’s no longer about choosing between other needs. Our constituents are now saying ‘what needs to be prioritized?’ Gas and food are at the top of the list.”
Ransom made the comments about affordability at Capitol Weekly’s informational conference titled “Affordability: The Cost of Living in California,” which was held on April 30 at the University of California’s Student and Policy Center.
Co-hosted with the University of California Student and Policy Center, the political conversations focused on identifying policy solutions to the state’s extremely high prices for energy, food, and essentials.
The keynote speakers at the conference were former Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez, president of the California Federation of Labor Unions, and Mike Madrid, a political strategist, author, and senior fellow at UC Irvine.
Conversations about affordability are taking on greater urgency as the election season kicks in, speakers said.
According to an April 2024 report by the Greenlining Institute, low-income Black Californians arestruggling with affordability due to a combination of historical systemic barriers and modern economic pressures. The Greenlining Institute is a California-based policy, research, and advocacy nonprofit founded in 1993 to fight systemic racism and economic injustice.
Black households in California experience the highest levels of rent burden; approximately 65% of Black renters, according to the Greenlining report. Historical “redlining” and ongoing discrimination have restricted homeownership. Black families also pay 43% more for energy than White households, partly because they are more likely to live in older, less energy-efficient rentals.
In addition, roughly 1 in 3 Black adults (36.5%) reported household food insecurity in late 2025, more than double the rate for White adults. This is often exacerbated by “food deserts” in predominantly Black neighborhoods.
In March, Assembly Minority Leader Heath Flora (R-Ripon) expressed concerns about affordability in California, describing it as a crisis where families are being “pushed to the edge.”
Flora criticized the state government for delaying action while living expenses continue to rise. He noted that affordability issues vary by region, but particularly cited gas prices as a major expense draining family budgets in his district.
“Californians should not have to choose between putting food on the table or filling up their car,” Flora stated. “We need to cut costs now. Not tomorrow, not next week, not next month. Now.”
Cuts to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding are being driven by the Trump Administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1), which is reducing federal spending by approximately $187 billion through 2034.
Those reductions are putting more pressure on the state to help, Ransom said.
“At the end of the day, we’re trying to figure out where we can backfill, and that means we have to make changes to our budget,” Ransom said at the conference. “Just like families are choosing what they have to prioritize, as a state, we’re asking agencies to figure out what we need to prioritize.”
According to the AAA Gas Prices website, as of May 8, California’s gasoline prices averaged over $6 per gallon in some areas, with various locations experiencing spikes of $7 to $8 per gallon. In California, fuel prices are driven by refinery maintenance and market volatility, while high food prices are linked to rising transportation costs, experts say.
Last month, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the state was stepping in to offer Californians some relief with their energy bills via the California Climate Credit program, which offered over $1.4 billion in residential credits distributed in April —$894 million for electricity and $520 million for natural gas.
The credits are not taxpayer money, but rather a rebate from the state’s Cap-and-Invest program, which requires large emitters to pay for their greenhouse gas emissions. The program is managed by the California Air Resources Board.
“Thanks to the Legislature’s partnership, the Golden State is delivering on its promise to put money back in Californians’ pockets, and we’re making it work smarter and harder for households across the state,” Newsom stated.
