Still no relief for California drivers

President Joe Biden is reportedly considering a federal gas tax holiday to provide relief to drivers struggling with high gas prices.

“Yes, I'm considering it,” Biden said Monday, according to the Associated Press. “I hope to have a decision based on the data — I'm looking for by the end of the week.”

That would be nice. Of course, it remains to be seen whether it happens or not. But it brings to mind the inaction of Sacramento.

All the way back in January, Gov. Gavin Newsom called for a halt to the regularly scheduled annual gas tax increase set to kick in on July 1.

“We're going to backfill it in terms of the tax itself to transportation projects so that there's no direct impact to investments,” Newsom said at the time. “But there will be a direct impact by avoiding that inflation adjustment that comes in July ... to increase the gas tax.”

Well, that never materialized, as the state Legislature failed to pass legislation on time to help avoid the gas tas hike.

In the months since Newsom's January call for gas tax relief, there's been plenty of talk in Sacramento but no decisive action.

Back in March, a bill from Asm. Kevin Kiley, R-Rocklin, which would have suspended the state's 51 cent per gallon gas tax was taken up by the Assembly's transportation committee.

What followed was classic Sacramento, as Democrats on the committee promptly gutted the bill and swapped in its place a proposed tax on gas suppliers.

It was an absurd turn of events that understandably bothered Republicans.

“I'm a little appalled and shocked that you all are so appalled and shocked by this,” Assemblywoman Laura Friedman, D-Glendale, who chairs the committee, said. “This is exactly our process.”

And Sacramento's process is exactly what's stalled any relief to the millions of Californians dealing with high gas prices.

In April, Newsom's office released a vague draft proposal offering gas tax relief in the form of direct payments (though the amount was notably missing from the text) to owners of vehicles that are worth up to a certain amount (again, the amounts were missing) and would allow the governor's office to grant a no-bid contract to a company to help provide the relief.

“This is a half-baked proposal from a governor who took off on vacation as Californians struggle with $6 a gallon gas,” said Assemblyman James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, who leads the Republicans in the Assembly, in response. “If the governor really wanted to ease the pain of inflation, he would support our plan to take 50 cents per gallon off the price of gas immediately instead of handing out a no-bid contract to send rebates that are months away.”

Finally, in May, a bipartisan group of legislators introduced a proposal to suspend the gas tax for one year. It failed to advance.

On May 26, CalMatters noted that the proposal “is a nonstarter with both Gov. Newsom and the Legislature's Democratic leaders, who argue that there's no guarantee the tax cut would be passed along to consumers. Instead, they prefer sending money directly to Californians.”

Of course, the reasoning that “there's no guarantee the tax cut would be passed along to consumers” is nonsensical. That's why other states, blue and red, have already done it.

Passing on an opportunity to provide relief amid crushing gas prices and rejecting bipartisan proposals along the way, that's, apparently, the California way Gov. Gavin Newsom has spoken about.