No images? Click here FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Beth Miller/Paige Haskin ICYMI: Los Angeles Times: Columnist George Skelton“Penalizing High Gas Costs Could Be 2023’s Biggest Legislative Fight. Hopefully, Lawmakers Learned From The Past.”SACRAMENTO – In a recent Los Angeles Times piece, columnist George Skelton analyzes the governor’s proposed penalty tax on oil companies, failed historical attempts with similar measures and the unintended consequences of gas supply shortages: "There could be no gas at all to buy. Then there’d be long lines at stations that did offer gas. And you wouldn’t much care about the cost.” … “If Newsom and lawmakers aren’t careful in crafting their legislation to cap oil industry profits, they could end the reliability of gas supplies by discouraging production.” … “But [Severin] Borenstein [faculty director of the UC Berkeley Energy Institute] says the biggest problem was that President Nixon imposed price controls on domestic oil and wouldn’t let them rise. Refineries had less incentive to produce gas.” … “If there’s not enough gasoline, there will be a shortage and there will be gas lines,” Borenstein says. “And as much as people don’t like high prices, they really don’t like gas lines.” … “By calling it an excessive profits “penalty” rather than a tax, that means the bill can pass the Legislature on a simple majority vote, rather than a supermajority.” Read the full column here: latimes.com. Californians Against Higher Taxes is a statewide coalition of more than 24,000 California taxpayers and nearly 200 organizations and companies led by CalTax, the California Chamber of Commerce, the California Manufacturers & Technology Association, and the California Business Roundtable. |