Newsom proposes gas tax rebate as California prices hit highest in the nation
With another day of sky high, record breaking prices at the pump in California Wednesday, Governor Newsom says he's working on a plan for some relief.
Gas prices in California are the highest in the nation right now.
The statewide average rose more than 11 cents per gallon in 24 hours Wednesday. In Riverside County, the average was more than $5.51 and climbing.
At his State of the State address Tuesday night, Newsom revealed a gas tax rebate proposal to offset the increasingly steep cost to fill up.
"I'll be submitting a proposal to put money back in the pockets of Californians to address rising gas prices," Newsom announced.
The proposal would be in the billions of dollars, it would help every registered driver in the state including undocumented drivers, and would be paid for using the general fund's $45 billion surplus.
Emily Hoeven tracks legislation out of Sacramento in a newsletter published by CalMatters. She said lawmakers are likely to push the gas tax rebate through, but they aren't as thrilled about Newsom's proposal to halt a gas tax increase planned for July.
"They're saying, 'Yes, we'll use the surplus; we'll use general fund money. And that way, we don't have to stop that that gas tax increase, and we can use that money for infrastructure and public transit,'" Hoeven said.
Right now, Californians have the highest taxes on gas in the nation, tacking on 18 cents per gallon for federal tax, 10 cents per gallon for state and local tax, and 51 cents per gallon in state excise tax.
News Channel 3's Jake Ingrassia asked: "Wouldn't this rebate just be putting people’s money back in their pockets that they’ve already paid to the government through these state taxes?"
"Republican lawmakers have been arguing, 'Okay, the fact that we need to send money back to California in the first place, just shows that we're taxing them too much to begin with,'" Hoeven said. "So why not just cut out the middleman, cut out this administration of having to get all these checks and mail them out... and just tax them less?"
It's a proposal still being worked out as gas prices continue to rise.
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