In a move one California lawmaker called “asinine,” Democrats imposed a tax on oil companies in lieu of suspending the gas tax in a bill that passed an Assembly committee Monday night.
Republicans accused Democrats of hijacking their bill that sought to suspend the state’s gas tax for six months while substituting language that will tax oil companies on profit margins above 30 cents per gallon.
Californians pay the nation’s highest gas tax, at 51 cents, and both the Legislature and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom have refused to suspend it. California’s average gas price per gallon as of Tuesday is $5.91, the highest in the United States by almost a dollar.
BATTLE RAGES OVER NEWSOM’S FIX FOR 51-CENT GAS TAX
“It is being hijacked, shockingly, to raise taxes even more in California and on energy of all things,” GOP Assemblyman Vince Fong said during a debate in the Transportation Committee.
Only in California does the Democrat-controlled Legislature hijack a bill that suspends the state gas tax temporarily and replace it with one that increases taxes. It is completely asinine.https://t.co/j33dqyFzQE
— Assemblyman Vince Fong (@AsmVinceFong) March 29, 2022
He then tweeted, “Only in California does the Democrat-controlled Legislature hijack a bill that suspends the state gas tax temporarily and replace it with one that increases taxes. It is completely asinine.”
The bill had been languishing for months without a floor vote, so when Democrats suddenly said it would get a hearing Monday, the news was met with skepticism by Republicans.
The Supermajority just rejected my gas tax suspension bill and instead passed a tax *increase* so bad no one would put their name on it. I wish I were making this up.
— Kevin Kiley (@KevinKileyCA) March 29, 2022
San Jose Assemblyman Alex Lee said he was skeptical that any tax suspension would yield real savings and was concerned that it could become permanent, according to KCRA.
“There is no guarantee that suspending the gas tax nets any savings on the consumer,” Lee said.
Lee consequently proposed stripping the bill of its original language and creating a vehicle fuel windfall profits tax, “when the price of a gallon of gas is abnormally high compared to the price of a barrel of crude oil.” The California Energy Commission will determine the profit margin, while the state tax board will decide the tax rate. All funds will be deposited into an account and returned to residents in a rebate.
Big oil don’t want the truth out there: that fossil fuel corporations dictate their own prices. They profit off of global instability and car dependency.
So if they price gouge, why not have them repay the people? ? https://t.co/iyeIcFFB4N
— Alex Lee 李天明 (@alex_lee) March 29, 2022
The move appears to create a funding mechanism for Newsom’s recent proposal of distributing $400 to each motorist. Payment originally was going to be made through the state’s general fund, which has billions in surplus.
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Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, who authored the bill, pushed back on the proposal and asked for Democrats to author their own legislation rather than use his. They refused and passed the tax measure with Kiley’s name on it in an 8-4 vote along party lines. It is now headed to the Appropriations Committee.
