California GOP’s plan to cut gas prices is squashed, backers say
California Senate Republicans’ goal of slashing gasoline prices by stopping recent environmental regulations – a centerpiece of their agenda this year – is likely dead on arrival in the Democrat-controlled legislature.
The Senate Environmental Quality Committee, which is dominated by Democrats, effectively killed Republicans’ Senate Bill 2 during a Wednesday hearing, according to two state senators. The bill would have halted recent changes by state air quality regulators that strengthened limits on the carbon-intensity of gas and other fuels. The policy change is expected to cut pollution and climate-warming fuels but further raise California’s already sky-high gas prices – though the exact cost impact is the subject of debate. On Wednesday, the average price of a gallon of gas was $4.65 in California, compared to $3.10 nationally.
“Unless there is a deal that is struck, or unless the committee members have a major change of heart, the bill is not moving forward,” said Nina Krishel Fisher, a spokesperson for Senate Republican Leader Brian Jones.
Only three committee members voted for the bill, short of the five votes needed to advance it. Two Republicans and Bakersfield Democratic Sen. Melissa Hurtado voted to move it forward, according to Krishel Fisher.
It’s technically possible that the bill could move forward under the senate’s rules, said Chris Brieño, a spokesperson for Hurtado. But that’s very unlikely, he said.
The bill, introduced by Jones, was backed by the party caucus. Republicans have blasted the California Air Resources Board and Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose appointees dominate the board, for strengthening the low carbon fuel standard in November. The changes could raise gas prices anywhere from 20 cents per gallon to 84 cents, various estimates have shown.
The board’s amendments took place just after the November election and a splashy special legislative session called by Newsom aimed at cutting gas prices.
Along with higher gas prices, however, the tougher regulations will reduce asthma symptoms for more than 70,000 Californians, according to the board’s estimate, and pump $100 billion of private investment into clean energy infrastructure over the next two decades. As of November, the fuel standard added about 8 cents per gallon of gas, said Aaron Smith, an economics professor at UC Davis.
The fuel standard sets a cap on the carbon-intensity of fuels that becomes lower over time. Companies that comply with the rules receive subsidies from companies, such as oil refineries, that do not.
Separately, Hurtado, who is concerned about the regulations’ costs on lower-income residents, is also sponsoring two bills that would require the air resources board to revise its November amendments “to reduce the financial burden on California consumers” and allow the Legislature to remove its members “for incompetence or misconduct.” Brieño said it’s still possible those bills will advance.
“We’ll find out,” he said.