SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Monday marked the start of Governor Gavin Newsom’s special session to punish oil companies for high gas prices. The special session lasted all of three minutes.
It will really start on Jan. 4, when the regular session does. However, there is something in writing now from the governor on how he wants to punish oil companies. He worked with Senator Nancy Skinner to introduce a bill on Monday.
The main reason why lawmakers made their way to Sacramento Monday was to elect party leadership and to swear in new members.
Republicans are not surprised that this special session will run alongside the normal one in January.
"The governor is very good at making splashy political headlines," said Republican Assemblymember Vince Fong.
Vice chair of the Budget Committee, Fong said penalizing oil companies is not the solution to high gas prices.
"We know that there is some extraordinary work to be done," said Democratic Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia.
Garcia said he knows this is a special session that needed to happen.
"I would love to see gas prices go down," Garcia said, "and we have to have a comprehensive conversation shortly."
After the session concluded, details from the governor's office came in. In this bill language, Newsom wants to penalize gas companies when they make over a certain profit and that money will then go into a fund to go back to Californians in some form.
However, many details were left blank in the bill. When does it go into effect? What is the maximum profit an oil company is allowed to make? How much is their penalty? All unanswered or left blank.
This will likely be a long special session to get to the bottom of these questions.
Additionally, the governor's language is that of a penalty, not a tax like he originally called for back in October. That means that the governor’s bill will only need a simple majority to pass, not two-thirds vote which you need for a new tax. This year- like years past- there is a large democratic supermajority.
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