A California lawmaker says Imperial County officials need to rework their controversial lithium spending plan, or they could face state intervention. In an interview with KPBS, Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella) said the county was required by state law to direct significantly more lithium tax dollars to towns on the north end of the valley. He said the current spending plan does not comply with those terms. … The dispute between state and county officials goes back to a 2022 state law that placed a new lithium tax on companies hoping to extract the valuable mineral — a key component in electric cars and other battery technology — in California.