The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, recommended on Tuesday that Californians receive tax assistance to offset the rising cost of gasoline as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Newsom made a passing reference to the proposal during his State of the State address at the Capitol, but he didn’t go into any detail.
Despite the high petrol costs and global instability that are feeding them, “no one is naive about the times we’re living in,” he said. I’ll be making a proposal in collaboration with legislative leadership to put money back into the pockets of Californians, in order to address rising gas prices.”
He stated that this would be in addition to a suspension in the increase in the gas tax that he had suggested earlier in the year.
Toni Atkins, the Senate President pro Tem from San Diego, and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon both assured that lawmakers will move promptly on the issue.
It was announced in a joint statement that “the Legislature will put the state’s solid income growth to work by providing considerable tax relief to families and small businesses as quickly as feasible.”
According to the two, cash from the state’s general fund might be used to support the project, noting that “this can avoid diverting essential funds away from road repair and enhancement while fully maintaining Proposition 98 funding for schools.”
Patricia Bates, a Republican state senator who represents portions of north coastal San Diego County, has proposed that Governor Gavin Newsom temporarily suspend the gas tax in order to save 50 cents a gallon.
The average price of a gallon of self-serve normal gasoline in San Diego County increased by 10 cents on Tuesday, to $5.483. This is the 19th time in the past 21 days that the price has reached a new high.
Following the imposition of new sanctions against Russia, the price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil in the United States increased by 1.4 percent to $125.45 per barrel in early morning Asian trading on Wednesday. As recently as early December, the price of a barrel of oil was below $70.