With August shaping up to be the most expensive month on record for gas prices and Labor Day Weekend just around the corner, Senator Tony Strickland (R-Huntington Beach) today gave Sacramento Democrats an opportunity to give California drivers some relief at the gas pump by joining him in suspending the gas tax for a year. In true form, Sacramento Democrats rejected the commonsense amendment and refused to allow an opportunity to debate the issue on the Senate Floor. Click HERE to read the vote count.
“Senate Democrats say they want to fight for affordability, but when given the chance to do so, they do not have the political willpower to act. I describe them as the modern-day Marie Antoinette, who is known to have said, ‘Let them eat cake,’” said Senator Strickland. “Today was the third time this year that I offered my Democratic colleagues an opportunity to join me in fighting to lower the gas tax. Nope. They are adamant in saying, ‘Hell no’ to a practical idea.”
Senator Strickland has been fighting to suspend the gas tax this year, including introducing legislation, Senate Bill 1035, the Gas Tax Relief Act. His legislation would have provided a holiday gas tax for one year, lowering the price of a gallon of gas by $1.08, saving an average family approximately $1100. Unfortunately, the majority party blocked his bill from passing out of its first Senate committee hearing.
California drivers pay the highest gas tax in the nation. On July 1, the state’s gasoline excise tax increased to 63.4 cents per gallon, up from 29.7 cents when Senate Bill 1 was enacted in 2017. That means California’s gas tax has more than doubled in less than a decade, increasing by 33.7 cents per gallon, or roughly 114%.
The annual increases are tied to an inflation adjustment established under SB 1, adding to the growing cost of filling up for California drivers.