$400 Gas Price Rebate For Taxpayers Proposed By CA Democrats

CALIFORNIA — A group of Democratic state lawmakers on Thursday gathered at the state Capitol to unveil a bill that would give a $400 rebate to all California taxpayers to help defray the cost of record-high gas prices, regardless of whether they own a car.

“Soaring gas prices are hitting Californians at the pump — we know our constituents are hurting right now,” Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris (D-Irvine) said at a Thursday news conference. “To put that into context, for most vehicles, for most Californians, this $400 rebate is equivalent to a one-year gas tax holiday. We know too many Californians are struggling to make ends meet right now.”

The bill would use $9 billion of the state’s $31 billion budget surplus to pay for the rebate, which Petrie-Norris said would cover one year's worth of 51.1 cent per gallon gas taxes on weekly fill-ups of a car with a 15 gallon tank. California’s gas tax is the second-highest in the nation, according to The New York Times.

Assembly Democrats on Tuesday voted down a Republican bill to suspend the state’s gas tax for at least six months. The bill failed 40-18.

Petrie-Norris’ office took aim at that bill, saying in a news release that suspending the gas tax would “severely impact funding for important transportation projects and offers no guarantee that oil companies would pass on the savings to customers.”

The following day, Democrats sent their proposal to Gov. Gavin Newsom in a letter.

Newsom also proposed a rebate in response to high gas prices in his State of the State address March 8, though his exact plans were vague.

“Working with legislative leadership, I’ll be submitting a proposal to put money back in the pockets of Californians to address rising gas prices,” Newsom said. Advisers for Newsom have said that his proposal would limit rebates to Californians who own cars.

“You’ll have to be a California resident, and you’ll have to own a car, and then it will go from there. But it will be spread across people who fit those two criteria and other details to be worked out, but it is a substantial amount of money,” Dee Dee Myers, Newsom’s senior adviser, told KCRA News.

Ten Democrats sponsored the most recent bill, including Petrie-Norris and Assemblymembers Cecilia Aguiar-Curry of Winters, Rebecca Bauer-Kahan of Orinda, Jesse Gabriel of Encino, Adam Gray of Merced, Jacqui Irwin of Thousand Oaks, Evan Low of Campbell, Blanca Rubio of Baldwin Park, Sharon Quirk-Silva of Fullerton and Carlos Villapudua of Stockton. Independent Assemblymember Chad Mayes of Yucca Valley also sponsored the bill.

Some Republican leaders endorsed the bill. “This bill should be fast-tracked to the Governor’s desk and targeted to working Californians who actually feel the pain at the pump,” Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher of Yuba City said in a statement Wednesday evening.

California continued to have the highest gas prices in the country, with a Thursday average of $5.78 per gallon for regular gas, nearly $1.50 over the national average, according to AAA.

Last Wednesday, a Mendocino gas station reportedly charged $8.45 for a gallon of regular gas, the highest recorded price in the nation. While prices have slowed somewhat, that was little comfort to strapped drivers who were also dealing with nearly 8 percent inflation, the highest in decades.

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