While Californians are reeling under the nation’s highest gas prices at upwards of $7 a gallon, Gov. Gavin Newsom says he has a plan to remove some of the sting.
“Working with legislative leadership, I’ll be submitting a proposal to put money back in the pockets of Californians to address rising gas prices,” Newsom said Tuesday during his State of the State address.
He didn’t offer any details, but senior adviser Dee Dee Myers said it would be a rebate totaling billions of dollars, KRCA reported. It’s unclear how the state could determine the number of miles a motorist drives to dole out the funds fairly.
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Instead, Newsom should be addressing the obvious concern: the 51-cent tax on every gallon of gas, said Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley. California’s gas tax is the highest in the nation — something voters have repeatedly increased over the years to address the crumbling roads.
Kiley introduced a bill on Jan. 12 to suspend the state’s gas tax for at least eight months. The bill has been sitting in the rules committee without much fanfare until out-of-control petrol costs have begrudgingly brought Democrats over to the center, and Kiley hopes to see it pass.
“California needs the help right now, at this moment, and my bill would at least provide a small source of relief to suspend the gas tax immediately,” Kiley told the Washington Examiner. “I have in the bill that any loss of revenue we will make up in the general fund. Newsom claims we have a $60 billion surplus there.”
California is the most regulated state in the nation, and any additional “program” to rebate gas tax would likely get botched and take a long time, Kiley said.
One thing that won’t happen in California is more oil drilling. The state once supplied 38% of the national supply, and Democrats would like to see the offshore platforms shut down.
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“Drilling even more oil only leads to even more extreme weather, more extreme drought, more wildfire,” Newsom said during his address. “We need to be fighting polluters, not bolstering them. And in the process of so doing, freeing us once and for all from the grasp of petro-dictators.”
