Standing Up Against Gavin’s Gas Tax

The lawmakers listed below had the courage to stand up for struggling California drivers and oppose Gov. Gavin Newsom’s new gas tax. 

 

Asm. Josh Hoover (R)
Asm. Devon Mathis (R)
Asm. Diane Dixon (R)
Asm. Kate Sanchez (R)
Asm. Greg Wallis (R)
Asm. Bill Essayli (R)
Asm. Heath Flora (R)
Asm. Jim Patterson (R)
Asm. Juan Alanis (R)

Asm. Tom Lackey (R)
Asm. Tri Ta (R)
Asm. Joe Patterson (R)
Asm. Laurie Davies (R)
Asm. James Gallagher (R)
Asm. Vince Fong (R)
Asm. Marie Waldron (R)
Asm. Phillip Chen (R)
Asm. Megan Dahle (R)

Letter to Governor - Windfall Gas Tax

What Are Experts Saying?

“If there's a really big price spike … the incentive will be to reduce the supply of gasoline and … really big price spikes would be made worse.”

Prof. James Sweeney, Senior Fellow Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research

“The penalty or tax can … disrupt the market and for that reason I think we have to be cautious.”

Prof. Severin Borenstein, Faculty Director Energy Institute at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business

“Price controls usually increased prices - while controls hold down prices artificially for a while, they soon start rising or soaring.”

David Hackett, Chairman of the Board Stillwater Associates

“[Regarding a similar scheme in the 1970s] The Congressional Research Service found … one, it only generated 20% of its expected revenues; two, we had domestic production fall by 4.8%; three, we increased our dependency on foreign oil by 12.7%; four, we reduced investment in capacity; five, it absolutely did minimal, little meaningful reduction in retail gasoline prices.”

Prof. Michael Mische, Lecturer of Management & Organization USC Marshall School Of Business

Republican Solutions

With California gas prices expected to reach $7 per gallon again this summer, Republicans have called on the governor to take three common-sense actions to keep costs down:

Stop the gas tax hike.

California’s gas tax will increase by 8% on July 1, taking an even bigger bite out of family budgets. The governor should stop this increase and allow drivers to keep more of their money.

Extend the diesel tax holiday

Last year, California suspended the diesel tax in an effort to lower transportation costs and fight inflation. That tax holiday is scheduled to expire on September 30, 2023. The governor should support a 12-month extension of that tax holiday.

Delay the transition to summer-blend gas

Switching to California’s summer blend gas adds up to 20 cents to the cost of a gallon of gas. The governor should delay the switch and prevent a summer price spike.

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