SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KNX) — An effort by some Republican lawmakers in Sacramento to suspend California’s state gas tax, which is the highest rate in the nation, failed on Monday.
Assemblymember Kevin Kiley (R.-Rocklin) introduced Assembly Bill 1638 to pause the state’s gas tax for about six months.
"We are offering the legislature the chance to be on the side of hard-working Californians by suspending the state gas tax in its entirety," Kiley said at a news conference before the vote.
Kiley’s plan would have temporarily removed the 51 cent tax on every gallon of gas sold in California, which brings in about $4 billion in funds to the state for maintaining and building transportation infrastructure.
With the average tank holding about 14 gallons, AB 1638 would have saved the average driver a little over $7 when filling up.
A swift party-line vote shot down chances of Kiley’s bill proceeding.
As a compromise, Gov. Gavin Newsom has suggested keeping the tax in place, but reimbursing individual drivers through rebate checks. Newsom had previously floated the idea of suspending July 2022’s scheduled gas tax increase of about three cents per gallon.
"I'll be submitting a proposal to put money back in the pockets of Californians to address rising gas prices," Newsom said Monday.
Democrats have expressed concern over proposed changes to the current gas tax regime, citing job and economic security.
“That’s something that could potentially jeopardize a tremendous amount of jobs in this state,” Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon told the Associated Press in February. “It could inhibit some economic growth.”
“We passed the gas tax for a very specific reason,” Rendon said. “We need to make sure that our transit operations are running and running smoothly. We want to make sure that our roads are safe and all those types of things. We want to make sure that our construction workers, folks in the building trades, are working on those projects.”
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