SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Governor Gavin Newsom wants to tax oil companies for pocketing profits while Californians continue to pay the highest prices in the country.
The concept is that anytime an oil company charges way more at the pump than the actual price of crude oil, then the oil company is taxed. That money is supposed to go back to the consumers.
Even though Newsom announced the idea on Friday, the legislative session doesn’t start back up for months.
The average price of gasoline in California Monday is $6.38 That’s about $2.60 more than the national average, according to AAA.
“Oil companies provide no explanation," Newsom said in a Twitter video. "The fact is, they’re ripping you off.”
He proposed an idea called the "windfall tax."
“I'm very excited that the governor has followed our lead in the assembly,” Assemblymember Alex Lee said.
Lee loves the idea. In fact, he introduced the idea in a bill form back in March when lawmakers were in session - something Newsom did not weigh in on at the time.
“I think seeing the oil cartel again do this to the California consumer and the fact of his own, perhaps, political ambitions is changing his mind on these things, and that's OK," Lee said. "So long as he understands the merits of good policy."
However, the Legislative session doesn’t reconvene until December. Newsom could call a special session to make it happen now.
“I think a special session would be warranted,” Lee said.
Republican Senator Brian Dahle, who is running against Newsom for governor, is open to a special session to discuss high gas prices in general, but he said it won’t happen.
“He just wants to blame somebody else and get some points right here at the end of the last month of election,” Dahle said.
He doesn’t like the idea of the tax anyway. He said it will only increase costs for consumers. He’d prefer to drop taxes.
“California should know that we pay a really high tax in California," Dahle said. "There's 54 cents a gallon that goes to fixing our highways, there's another 20 cents a gallon that goes to a California Air Resources Board... It adds up to about $1.20 that Californians pay in taxes for a gallon of gas.”
Political Reporter Morgan Rynor reached out to the governor for an interview as well. His office declined.
How often would people see these rebates? In what form? His office said that details about the proposal will be determined during the legislative session. His office did not answer why Newsom is supporting the windfall tax now but did not support the bill during session.
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