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Editor's Note: As 2025 draws to a close, we pause to highlight our choices for the Top 10 stories that impacted the asphalt industry in California over the past year. Click HERE to read last year's roundup. Look for our 2026 predictions in next week's issue of this newsletter.
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1 : Incoming Trump administration promises disruption, delivers
The inauguration in January of Donald Trump as the nation’s 37 president, returned to office by voters on campaign promises to disrupt the status quo, delivered in a big way the entire, year. First, auto and tech mogul Elon Musk arrived in Washington as head of “DOGE,” a hastily assembled federal government efficiency initiative, which immediately triggered large-scale layoffs, a reorienting of agency priorities. Massive changes rolled out in rapid succession, from cutbacks at the Environmental Protection Agency, to mass exoduses in other departments. The controversial Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program, the subject of lawsuits and court rulings, was placed on hold, creating ripple effects across government agencies that incorporate DBE goals in procurement and contract bidding. Agency personnel nationwide were left scrambling to provide guidance for the program. Severe crackdowns on immigration slowed illegal border crossings to a trickle, but some worried of the long-term impact to the nation’s workforce. The GOP-controlled Congress extended tax cuts first enacted in Trump's first term, which was cheered by the business community. By year’s end, however, indications were that all the disruption was creating exhaustion among the electorate as the cost of living remained stubbornly high and public opinion polls found voters continuing to worry about pocketbook issues. California voters passed a major mid-cycle redistricting plan, Proposition 50, that was billed as a way to gain more Democratic representation in Congress and therefore crimp Trump’s power.
2 : Gov. Gavin Newsom positions himself for a run for the White House in 2028
Gov. Gavin Newsom, heading into the home stretch of his second and final term as California’s chief executive, expended plenty of energy in 2025 positioning himself for an expected White House run in 2028. His handlers ramped up his PR announcements intended to give the impression of action and addressing longstanding problems, such as the high cost of housing, homelessness and government inertia. He also leaned into grabbing the mantle as the chief antagonist of President Trump via social media posts, his own podcast and media appearances. Newsom was the figurehead of a controversial ballot initiative, Proposition 50, to redraw California’s Congressional Districts to potentially send more Democrats to Washington, and the measure passed easily. Ronald Reagan followed a similar playbook, albeit with different technology, in the waning days of his governorship before being elected president in 1980.
3 : California refineries announce shutdown plans, potentially roiling asphalt markets
California, an economic and geographic colossus, has long been an energy island, with its own rich oil reserves, onshore and offshore, refineries to turn it into products, and distribution systems to move it around the state and beyond. California air quality regulators have required specialized formulations of fuel to be produced in California to help fight smog, but the uniqueness of the Low Carbon Fuel Standard blend also created vulnerabilities. With those and other regulations piling up, refineries in California California have been steadily closing since the 1980. In the latest blow, Phillips 66 and Valero both announced plans to cease refinery operations, potentially reducing the state’s refining capacity by about 18%. Analysts noted the potential for the closures to impact California’s highest-in-the-nation pump prices, as well as the potential to also disrupt pricing and availability of liquid asphalt binder, a byproduct of the refining process. The Newsom administration responded to the news with a flurry of announcements, first bellicose, echoing his previous demonization of the oil industry in California, and then more conciliatory as shutdown dates approached. Other neighboring states that also utilize California-refined fuel products, such as Arizona and Nevada, expressed alarm about the situation. Caltrans, noting the developments, revised its crude oil price index used to establish a benchmark for paving asphalt.
4 : Plans begin to take shape over replacing fuel taxes to pay for road repairs
Assembly Transportation Committee Chair Lori Wilson, D-Suisun City, kicked off the year delivering a keynote speech to the CalAPA Annual Dinner in Los Angeles, and pledged not to “kick the can down the road” on the thorny problem of addressing declining fuel tax revenue to fix roads. She delivered on her promise, holding a series of community events to hear from her fellow Californians on how the local and state transportation infrastructure impacts commerce, their wallets and their quality of life. Meanwhile, Transportation California, a pro-transportation coalition that was a prominent backer of Senate Bill 1, the Road Repair & Accountability Act of 2017, built the foundation of a public education campaign to help Californians understand the key issues related to how road-repairs are funded today and to test public appetite for potential changes in the future. Wilson, who keeps a can presented to her by CalAPA in her Capitol office as a daily reminder not to “kick the can down the road” on road funding, announced at year’s end that the first step of an expected series of policy initiatives to have Electric Vehicle owners pay a more equitable share for road upkeep.
5 : California’s slide in national influence does a U-turn
With Vice President Kamala Harris losing her bid for the White House in late 2024, it appeared to be the culmination of a long decline in California’s influence in Washington, coming on the heels of the resignation of Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from Bakersfield, and the end of the reign of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco. But California held its top position as the nation’s largest Congressional delegation at 52, dominated by Democrats. With the passage in November of Prop. 50, which temporarily removed the power to draw congressional districts from a non-partisan commission and handed it over to politicians, California suddenly was in a position to flip an additional five Republican-held seats in 2026 to the Democratic Party, possibly turning control over the House of Representatives from a thin GOP majority to Democrats and providing a check on presidential power. Gov. Gavin Newsom, positioning himself for a White House run, portrayed himself as the leader of the Trump resistance and emerged as a leader in early polling for the 2028 presidential race. Suddenly California was back in the national political conversation, and with a renewed swagger in influencing the national policy debate that seemed unthinkable a year ago.
6 : Optimism tanks in CalAPA’s annual ‘Better-Worse’ Survey
If U-turns appear to be the theme in this year’s recap, it certainly was reflected in the results of CalAPA’s annual “Better-Worse” readership survey, now in its 16th year. A year ago optimism was high, carried aloft by the election of Donald Trump to a second term as president, bringing with him promises of tax cuts, reduced regulation and other populist themes. A year on, and the mood of Asphalt Insider readers had decidedly soured, which many citing chaos and confusion in government as one of the biggest reasons why. The results of the survey of industry and agency readers of this publication were folded into the CalAPA annual Asphalt Market Forecast for California, which was published in December and projected how many of the changes will impact the asphalt market.
7 : Key leadership changes at Caltrans, elsewhere
The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) continued to lose senior leaders due to retirements and departures, including Director Tony Tavares, who resigned to take the top job at the Alameda County Transportation Commission, and Chief Deputy Mike Keever, who retired. Materials Engineering & Testing Services (METS) Chief Tim Greutert also retired, and a permanent successor has not yet been named. Several regional directors and others in leadership positions also headed for the exits. On the industry side, the CalAPA-supported Asphalt Pavement Alliance replaced its executive director, Reed Ryan, who took the top spot at the Asphalt Institute, with Mike Skinner, an engineer and veteran of the Colorado Asphalt Pavement Association. CalAPA Executive Director Russell W. Snyder, the 2025 chairman of the State Asphalt Pavement Associations, Inc. (SAPA), presided over a national meeting of other state associations held Aug. 2-5 in Monterey. It was announced that Snyder will pass the gavel to Illinois Asphalt Pavement Association Executive Kevin Burke in January.
8 : Bay Area Air District funds ambitious permit-reform program
The Bay Area Air District Board of Directors approved a $7 million plan to help overhaul the air district’s long-derided system of issuing air quality permits. The September action came following years of engagement by the CalAPA Environmental Committee and other CalAPA members to call attention to permitting delays and other problems. Bay Area Air District Deputy Air Pollution Control Officer Meredith Bauer outlined the changes in an exclusive interview with California Asphalt, the official CalAPA association magazine (the issue is on-line HERE), and other associations joined in the good-government advocacy.
9 : CalAPA workforce-focused charity supports CSU Chico
CalAPA’s newly created charitable arm, the California Asphalt Research & Education (CARE) Foundation, continued to support the Women of Asphalt California Branch activities in 2025 in alignment with its workforce-centric mission. As the year drew to a close, the Board of Trustees of the CARE Foundation also voted to support an innovative asphalt education initiative at the California State University, Chico, which has also been supported by CalAPA and CalAPA members.
10 : Slow but steady progress made on Balanced Mix Design, other tech issues
Members of the Caltrans-industry Pavement & Materials Partnering Committee (PMPC) continued to meet in 2025 to advance the concept of moving Caltrans toward a “Balanced Mix Design” specification that builds on years of research and field experience, including research conducted by the University of California Pavement Research Center. The Technical Committee that is part of the Caltrans-industry Joint Training & Certification Program (JTCP) also continued to advocate for changes in curriculum to make the classes and certifications more in alignment with the practical realities of test methods. The JTCP is overseen by Caltrans and managed by California State University, Long Beach. A California Asphalt magazine profile of the program is HERE.
Honorable Mention (again): The asphalt industry continues to be disrupted by mergers and acquisitions in California, part of a larger trend of family-owned businesses being acquired by multi-state, national or even international companies. This dynamic situation is further complicated by the ongoing changes in California’s refinery market, and by extension, the liquid asphalt binder market.
Next week: Our fearless predictions for the top stories that will be making headlines in 2026.
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