ICYMI: The Bakersfield Californian

“Our View: Get serious; a ‘price-gouging penalty fee’ won’t help”

SACRAMENTO –A recent editorial in The Bakersfield Californian asks policymakers to look into the oil industry's real challenges instead of following Governor Newsom’s demagoguery. 

“The governor was right about Californians being screwed (his words.) But it’s not just by the oil industry. It’s also by politicians, like Newsom, who demagogue the oil industry to promote themselves.”

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“But the governor’s proposal to impose a ‘penalty fee’ on refiners to punish those who escalate prices beyond some still-undefined cap is pure nonsense — a political stunt.”

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“For clarification, Newsom is proposing a ‘penalty fee,’ not a ‘tax.’ Why? Because a fee only needs a majority vote of the Legislature and a tax would require a two-thirds vote.”

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“Newsom’s scheme is ill-conceived and premature. The reasons for the state’s gasoline spike now are being investigated by the California Energy Commission. On Nov. 29, the commission conducted a fact-finding hearing in preparation for a 2024 report on its findings.”

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“Legislators — particularly many first-time legislators, such as Democratic Assemblywoman Jasmeet Bains of Bakersfield — are being asked to cast a career-impacting vote as a foot soldier in Newsom’s ongoing war with California’s oil industry. Rather, they should hit the brakes on Newsom’s scheme and be more deliberative.”

Read the full editorial here: Bakersfield.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.