California Democrats are butting heads over the state’s gas tax. On the one hand, taking money from the state’s residents has always been a top priority for the party. On the other, prices are getting high enough that Democrats might start losing elections.
California, which has the highest gas prices in the country thanks to its gas tax and environmental regulations, is in the midst of a gas tax debate. Gov. Gavin Newsom, in his infinite wisdom, has decided that the best course of action is to keep the gas tax and then give money back to residents after they’ve paid at the pump. Newsom wants a $400 rebate for each registered vehicle and free public transit for three months, which totals roughly $11 billion.
California Democrats in the Legislature, meanwhile, want to limit the benefits based on income. They want $200 for every taxpayer and child for households that earn less than $125,000 for single filers and $250,000 for joint filers.
The obvious solution would be to suspend the gas tax. California has the second-highest gas tax in the country behind Pennsylvania. The tax is also set to increase come July. When Assemblyman and former gubernatorial candidate Kevin Kiley introduced a bill to pause the tax, Democrats gutted the bill and turned it into a new tax on gas suppliers.
San Diego County and Orange County, which have backed Democrats in recent presidential elections, have also backed suspending the gas tax. Orange County is a battleground with several competitive House races. San Diego County has backed Democrats by double digits in the last two election cycles. The political potency of this issue is the only reason Newsom and Democratic legislators are even discussing this issue, but even that isn’t enough to convince them that Californians should simply be allowed to keep their own money.
California Democrats think that the money residents earn belongs to the state. Now, they can’t agree on how much of a payoff to give to residents to try and paper over the political damage being caused by gas prices.
Single-party rule means you can do whatever you like, but it also means that there is nowhere to hide when things go south. Unfortunately, a lot of things go south under the control of California Democrats, just not the price of gas.
