SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — With California drivers paying more than $6 for a gallon of gas and state officials deadlocked for months over how to provide relief…
With California drivers paying more than $6 for a gallon of gas and state officials deadlocked for months over how to provide relief, lawmakers in the state Assembly on Monday announced they would investigate oil companies they say are “abusing a historic situation to suck profits from Californians’ wallets.”
Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon announced a bipartisan committee to investigate gas price gouging, with plans to question oil companies, regulators and economists to find out why California’s gas prices are consistently the highest in the country. California’s gas prices are currently the highest in the U.S., with the average price per gallon at $6.40 on Monday compared to the national average of $4.98.
“We have put ourselves in a situation because of our addiction to the gas-powered engine. Yet that is no excuse for the actions of those who pin California drivers down with a foot on our necks and a hand in our pockets,” Rendon said. Republicans mocked the investigation on Monday, blaming Democrats for California’s record-high gas prices because they have refused to temporarily stop taxing gasoline as other states have done to control costs. Democratic President Joe Biden on Monday said he was contemplating temporarily suspending the federal gas tax, a move that could save drivers 18.4 cents per gallon.
“Instead of suspending the state’s gas tax, Sacramento Democrats are creating a committee?” said Assembly member Vince Fong, the Republican vice chair of the Assembly Budget Committee.
