California GOP Lawmakers Plea To Newsom To Address Gas Tax

Photo by: BJ Hansen

Sacramento, CA — A proposed bill to suspend the gas tax temporarily, in California, failed to gain enough votes in the Assembly late yesterday.

It needed 54 votes to move forward and received just 18. The vote was along party lines, and only Republicans were in support. Governor Gavin Newsom and Democratic leaders are developing their own gas rebate program to address the rising prices, but details have not yet been released.

After the GOP bill stalled on Monday, the Republican Senate Caucus then sent a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom asking him to step in and “be bold” by issuing a full moratorium on the gasoline excise tax.

The letter, signed by Mother Lode Senator Andreas Borgeas, and others, states, “Californians currently pay $1.27 more per gallon of gasoline compared to the national average. They pay 51.1 cents per gallon of gasoline excise taxes, which absent your proposal to curb the inflation adjustment for a year, will rise to 54.1 cents per gallon on July 1. At a time when the state budget is enjoying historic surpluses, we need to take bold action to help everyday Californians. Your proposal to postpone increases for a year is a small step in the right direction, but falls far short of protecting California working families and the economy from the devastating impacts likely to result from an extended conflict in Eastern Europe that disrupts oil supplies.”

The letter goes on to state, “The resulting revenue loss to the state of $8.1 billion is less than a fifth of the administration’s own forecast in January of a $45.7 billion budget surplus…This tax cut would spur the economy, just when we need it most and would represent much-needed relief for working families struggling through the pandemic and those transitioning back from remote work.”

You can find the full GOP letter by clicking here.