Gov. Newsom’s ‘Sham’ Special Leg Session on Gas Prices

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s California Energy Commission regulators announced in early August proposed government controls of the petroleum industry, ostensibly in order to combat future energy price surges. This followed Chevron Oil company’s announcement that it will be moving its headquarters to Houston Texas from San Ramon California.

Oil and gas ban. State proposed takeover of oil and gas industry. Price controls of oil and gas industry. California to become the first state to ban natural gas heaters, water heaters, and furnaces by 2030. All-Electric grid, electric appliances, electric car mandates, “carbon-free buildings” – that means all-electric.

These are actual policies of California Gov. Gavin Newsom who is now calling a special session of the Legislature – which just adjourned for the year – to pass his scheme to require refiners to withhold fuel from drivers.

Last week Gov. Newsom threatened to call a special session if lawmakers didn’t pass his Venezuela-Like price controls proposal of the oil and gas industry – unless lawmakers passed his latest proposal to control California’s petroleum industry. They did not pass it.

Newsom claims “Price spikes on consumers are profit spikes for oil companies.”

Senate President Pro tem Mike McGuire told Gov. Newsom to pound sand.

Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas initially told Newsom that the Assembly would not move forward with Newsom’s oil and gas storage proposal, SB 950, before end of CALeg session. Speaker Rivas: “What I’m not going to do is push through bills that haven’t been sufficiently vetted..”

Then he caved and announced Tuesday the Assembly would meet for  Newsom’s special session:

“Today, Governor Gavin Newsom and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas announced legislation to prevent gasoline price spikes, as part of the Governor’s special session on gas prices.

The legislation, which will soon be introduced by joint authors Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry and Assemblymember Gregg Hart, tackles the problem of gasoline price spikes at the pump — and would save Californians hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars annually.

On Saturday, Governor Newsom convened a special session of the legislature to make oil refiners manage California’s gasoline supply responsibly and save Californians money at the pump. “

Newsom left out the part California’s highest-in-the-nation gas taxes play in California’s highest-in-the-nation gas prices.

This did not go over well with Republicans:

Assemblyman Joe Patterson (R-Rocklin) condemned Gov. Newsom’s special session and called on Democrats to reject his proposal to withhold gas from California drivers, which Newsom’s own energy experts warn could drive up prices and create supply shortages.

“Californians are tired of getting ripped off at the pump thanks to Democrats’ high taxes and regulations – and they see right through Newsom’s attempt to blame everyone but himself,” said Patterson. “Newsom’s sham special session proposal will do absolutely nothing to address California’s outrageous gas prices and will likely drive costs even higher. I hope the majority party will support a transparent process that allows for bills from both sides of the aisle, instead of blindly doing the Governor’s bidding

Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher (Yuba City) said: After six years of Newsom’s failed leadership, Californians’ gas prices have soared by $1.33/gallon and are still some of the highest in the country. This stunt from the governor will only make things worse. When we come back for this special session, Assembly Republicans will be ready with smart proposals to increase our energy supplies and bring costs down

Sen. Brian Jones said on X: Governor Newsom has been sitting on this bill proposal since January, and now, with no plan in place, he’s trying to force an unnecessary special session. Just like any other proposal, the governor’s bill to raise gas prices must be fully scrutinized in an open, public hearing where all its consequences can be properly evaluated. It’s blatantly undemocratic for Newsom to finally show up to his day job and demand the Legislature instantly cave to his demands, all so that he can feel relevant again and get a splashy headline.

California Policy Center’s Lance Christensen reminded everyone of former Sen. John Moorlach’s proposal:

One of my favorite ideas is SB 1074 (2018) from former Sen. John Moorlach which requires gas stations to display a QR code at all pumps allowing people to see how much they’re paying in taxes & fees for every gallon of gas. (It’s a lot!) People stop complaining about oil companies once they realize just how much more the government takes in taxes than they get in profits. People may vote differently when they see how much taxes they’re paying on their fuel taxes. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB1074

Gov. Newsom claims that the state’s highest-in-the-nation gas taxes and prices are not what led to dramatically spiking gas/oil prices but because of price gouging by the oil industry. In May, Newsom even signed a gas price gouging law into place.

The California Energy Commission disagreed with the governor at the time, showing that gas price spikes occurred in the last few years because of refineries temporally going out of commission because not enough oil was getting to them. The CEC also said that lower prices this year were caused by many factors, including a cut in industry costs and profits, lower crude oil costs, and in how much environmental programs are getting from the industry, the Globe reported. Prices could even be lower, but as the CEC noted, the only thing that went up was the gas tax itself.

What Gov. Newsom is not saying aloud is what he did in 2022 and 2023, allowing the early use of California’s winter-blend gasoline – an effort to lower the current high in gas prices – just ahead of the November election.

It’s all political.