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Congressional Republicans urge Newsom to suspend California gas tax hike

May 24, 2024

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

House Republicans from California are urging Gov. Gavin Newsom to suspend the state’s annual gas tax increase as Golden State residents grapple with the highest gas prices in the country. [Gazette]

All 11 House Republicans from California sent a letter to Newsom on Thursday urging the governor to suspend a pair of gas tax increases that are slated to take effect this year. The two hikes are: the annual gas tax increase, which takes effect at the beginning of July, and a 47-cent increase, slated for September, that stems from recent low carbon fuel standard reforms by the California Air Resources Board.

“Gov. Newsom has failed to provide relief at the pump for hard-working Californians struggling with rising costs,” said Rep. David Valadao (R-CA), who spearheaded the letter. “My constituents are already paying the highest gas prices in the country, and the fact that our prices are about to go up even more because of the state’s policies is unacceptable. I am once again urging the governor to suspend the gas tax to lower prices for Central Valley families.”

Valadao sent similar letters to Newsom over the last two years. The governor has not halted gas tax hikes.

Republican House members argue the annual gas tax increase would raise the existing tax by 60 cents. 

A spokesperson for Newsom disputed the claim, citing an announcement from the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration that excise tax rates would increase from 57.9 cents to 59.6 cents. 

“This letter is filled with inaccuracies, like claiming the gas tax will increase prices by 60 cents on July 1, which is completely wrong. These members should take a better look at what they’re signing instead of just blindly doing what Big Oil interests want,” spokesman Alex Stack said. “Gas prices in California have been on the decline for five weeks straight.”

As of Thursday, a gallon of regular gas in California averaged $5.15, the highest in the United States, according to AAA. Hawaii, the state with the second-highest gas prices, had an average of $4.87.


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“Republicans enraged by Biden’s efforts to keep gas prices lowerPresident Joe Biden is taking fresh steps to help keep gas prices from climbing. For Republicans to see this as “disgusting” and “disgraceful” is bizarre.”


-9

You know as well as we do, that releasing stored gasoline into the market, will have no effect of California prices, as we make our own special blend of gas, that no other state uses.


So yes, giving away our emergency reserves during a non-emergency, is disgusting and disgraceful.


Biden politics raised oil and gas prices fro the moment he nullified all of Trumps programs, that lowered oil and gas prices, and made the USA energy independent.


9

Newsom has the highest gas prices in the country… and its not enough for him… let him do it… he will never be president if he doesn’t turn the CA economy around….


25

Umm, I was not aware that Newsom was selling gas. Ya’ll seem determined to overlook who actually owns the fossil fuel concerns and sets the prices, in the zeal to blame anyone who you perceive as “liberal”. That tactic, as popular as it is with a certain crowd, doesn’t impress. It makes no sense. California has allowed a humongous amount of drilling and our share of refining, etc., as well, to the point of having to pay attention that we still have drinkable water in this state. And how often have we even made them clean one of their highly polluted sites? That costs us huge amounts of taxpayer dollars.


Don’t care about that? Just want “cheap” gas? It is never going to actually be cheap. But it would be nice to cut out the ridiculous profits these guys make at our expense. You actually want cheap gas that does not rely on our huge subsidies and superfund cleanups and the whim of the CEOs to have even a remotely affordable price? Nationalize our resources. See how much we are paying middlemen to take advantage of us.


-23

Cut out oil company profits?… then who will risk investment capital to drill and refine oil?… all that will do is cause a shortage and the global prices to rise…


4

Gas in the rest of the country for the MOST part is something like $3 – $3.5 per gallon. So with your reasoning I guess the oil companies only want to make big profits off of California drivers where the same gallon of gas is nearly twice?


3

Nationalize our resources…see how well that worked in Venezuela.


0

He will never be President because he is Newsom. Only California is silly enough to give him purchase. The rest of America is not so gullible.


2

Wow. Up less than an hour, late at night, and already being voted down for stating the obvious. How typical. No wonder our gas prices are sky high in Cali. With so many “Johnnie at the rat hole”, always ready to defend what the oil moguls are doing to us. And, of course, blame “the libs”, as if that made one wit of sense.


Fossil fuel industry dudes make it look so easy, a whole bunch of other industries are now going for it as well. They now know they can count on a whole bunch of geniuses to back them up with accusations against “the libs” rather than think things through and see “record profits” as the money they are taking from us and saving from the meager wages they pay their employees, rather than cut them in when they are doing all the work.


If we reinstituted “windfall profits tax”, perhaps corporations would go back to paying fair wages and investing, rather than just taking it all home themselves. But those same Republican congresspersons would be the first to scream “socialism” if that were proposed, as if they even knew what the term meant.


But sure, blame the governor. That’ll fix things.


-40

California only sells the gasoline we make here. Due to the blend required by the state, no gasoline from anywhere else can be sold here. When the state has a monopoly on gasoline production, they can set the price as they want to.


4

Fossil fuel corporations are posting massive, record-breaking profits. Why don’t those Republican congresspersons ask their big donor oil company buddies to give us a break, instead of winging at our governor as if he was the one sucking us dry and taking it home? The governor is responsible for maintaining our highways, so they are safe to use. It is not as if he pockets the taxes. Lining their pockets is what those in the industry are doing at our expense.


The behavior of the fossil fuel industry makes me want to see our natural resources nationalized, so that we could really see a meaningful break in prices and manage extraction with the health of people and the environment as the top priority, rather than what the shareholders and the execs are taking for themselves. It shouldn’t take a genius to figure out that would be better for “families” than letting the roads go to hell.


-55

When the dreaded Orange menace was President, gas was plentiful and cheap. Everyone was happy, including oil companies, who made their margins. The government always mucks things up with their meddling. California has CARB, a no-account organization that can regulate without public input. While the rest of America enjoys gas prices dollars less than we pay, we suffer because of our lackadaisical righteousness.


30

With more EV’s on the road, the only fair and equitable way to pay for roads is to institute more toll roads, as they do in Europe. Eliminate gas taxes altogether—if you use the road, you pay for it. As fuel taxes continue to dwindle we cannot keep raising that tax on a minority of drivers.


-36

And here we are … beggin’ tha Guvner … like we are on death row. Emperor Newsom may give a reprieve … until November 6th … then the ecologicalasshole strikes!


36

Biden? A second term? I certainly hope not.


34