California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has called a “special session” of the state legislature to pass bills deal with high gas prices — but Democrats on either side of the state capitol cannot agree on whether to have the session at all.
Newsom wants legislators to take action to lower gas prices — not by lowering taxes, not by eliminating a cap-and-trade system that has a negligible effect on global climate, not by lifting regulations that choke supply, not by expanding fracking permits that it has withheld, but rather by requiring refineries to maintain minimum level of fuel reserves so there are not sudden shortages and price surges.
The State Assembly agrees with his approach. But the State Senate does not. The San Francisco Chronicle reports:
Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state Assembly are introducing a new version of gas price legislation Tuesday as part of a special legislative session, even as the state Senate insists it will not convene this fall to consider it.
Newsom has been pressuring lawmakers to send him legislation to require California petroleum refineries to maintain minimum fuel reserves to avoid supply shortages blamed for last year’s gasoline price spike. But the bill he had backed to do so stalled in the Assembly. Lawmakers did not take it up by Saturday at midnight, the deadline for them to pass bills during this year’s legislative session.
Once it became clear the proposal would not advance Saturday evening, Newsom announced he was calling a special session for lawmakers to pass legislation to lower gas prices. Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas said he was on board. But his counterpart, Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire, said he disagreed and that his chamber would not consider gas price legislation until the start of the next legislative session in January.
Last year, Newsom claimed “price gouging” was to blame for high gas prices — the same claim that is made about inflation in general by fellow Californian Vice President Kamala Harris. He did the same in 2022, and in 2019. Oil companies countered that California’s heavy regulations had forced refineries to close or to reduce production in the state, meaning fewer supplies were available in a crisis.
Democrats enjoy supermajorities in both houses of the state legislature. Republicans argue that Newsom is simply using gimmicks and demagoguery to make it appear as though he is trying to do something about high gas prices.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of “”The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of “The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency,” now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.