California legislators: Give Californians gas pain relief

Tone deaf. That’s what California legislators are. They are ignoring the outrage of Californian motorists, who are paying the highest price for gasoline in the nation — more than $6 a gallon, and in some places, more than $10.

Legislators had a chance to relieve some of this pain at they pump. But they ignored the problem, or have bickered so much that it is unlikely Californians will see any relief for weeks, maybe months, if ever.

To make matters worse, California charges the nation’s highest state gasoline tax. And that tax will automatically increase by about 3 cents on July 1.

Other states are giving motorists a “gas tax holiday” — temporarily suspending state gasoline taxes, while the price of gasoline soars. Not California. Gov. Newsom proposed a gasoline tax holiday, but dropped the idea when state legislators were firmly opposed.

Other states will provide a rebate of some kind to help residents cope with the cost of gasoline. Not California. The rebate the governor proposed has been bogged down in tedious bickering over who should get the rebate. Should the rich be left out? Should it be only the poor who will get rebates? Should it be based on registered vehicles, or should everyone get a rebate, regardless of car ownership?

And if the stalemate over the rebate is ever cleared, means-testing and other qualifying conditions are likely to bog down a convoluted distribution system for weeks and months.

Really, legislators. Quit over-thinking this. Put a temporary moratorium on imposing state gasoline taxes. Give all vehicle-owning Californians a standard rebate, regardless of their income or net worth. To administer a means-testing system could cost more in time and money than a flat distribution.

The state programs currently being funded by the gasoline tax, such as road improvements, can be funded by a growing state budget surplus, which now is estimated to be $68 billion. The governor and legislators are scrambling to spend the surplus on some of their pet projects.

When will California’s skyrocketing gasoline prices be recognized as the crisis that it is — when the average price per gallon is $10, or $11, or $12. Maybe tone-deaf legislators will never consider it a crisis. And that will be too bad for Californians and too bad for the tone-deaf legislators, who need Californians’ votes to keep them in office.

There are many reasons why California’s gas prices are so high. As the summer travel season kicks in, the state’s gasoline formulation changes. As pandemic restrictions have lifted, fuel demand has increased with more people traveling. As the war in Ukraine continues and countries boycott Russian oil, global fuel supplies have been squeezed. And multinational oil companies are reporting skyrocketing profits.

California’s excise tax on gasoline is 51.1 cents per gallon. It automatically will increase to 53.9 cents a gallon on July 1. This is on top of the federal gasoline tax of about 18.4 cents per gallon.

Republican legislators have pushed to temporarily suspend the state gasoline tax, halt the automatic tax increase and provide Californians with a gasoline rebate. These efforts have failed to convince tone-deaf Democrats that Californians need and deserve relief now — not later, not never.

“Big picture” solutions — use of alternative fuels, controlling price gouging, etc. — will take years to achieve.

But steps can be taken now to help Californians cope with the increasingly high cost of gasoline.

Legislators, give Californians a break. Quit talking. Quit bickering. Temporarily suspend the state’s gasoline tax. Approve a gasoline rebate for all vehicle-owning Californians.