The bill is still sitting in the Democratic-controlled Legislature three months later, with no details on how much the penalty would be or when oil companies would have to pay it.
SACRAMENTO — After gas prices in California spiked to more than $6.40 per gallon last summer, Gov. Gavin Newsom led a charge against an industry he says is"ripping you off."called lawmakers into a rare special session in December
The bill is a big risk for Newsom, who was just reelected in November and is seen as a possible presidential candidate ahead of 2024. Newsom has embraced electric cars, ordering state regulators. But for decades gasoline is likely to continue to be a critical commodity in California, a state that has twice as many licensed drivers as any other state.
During the bill's first public hearing in the state Senate on Wednesday, many Democrats were sympathetic to drivers hit by price spikes. But several Democrats appeared to be skeptical. Nicolas Maduros, director of the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, said years of data show California is one of the most profitable markets for these oil companies, meaning it wouldn't make sense for them to stop selling gasoline there. Plus, he said the Newsom administration hopes the penalty would never be needed.
One way to measure that would be to look at the difference between the wholesale cost of gas and the cost of crude oil. But that calculation isn't perfect, because it doesn't include oil company operational costs, Jamie Court, the group's president, said. Wednesday, a panel of economists and experts — some with ties to the oil industry — mostly criticized the proposal, saying it would not likely cause gas prices to decrease.
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