Gavin’s gas price hike to be voted upon in Senate tomorrow

Newsom, other progressives foolishly pushing Senate Democrats to raise gas prices right before election

Tomorrow morning, using false claims of “trying to prevent gas price hikes,” the California State Senate will convene in an oh-so-special session where a bare majority of Senate Democrats plan to fall in line behind lame duck Governor Gavin Newsom’s latest attempt to make himself relevant again. 

Newsom, who had been bucking to replace Joe Biden as the Democratic Presidential nominee, was summarily dismissed by the National Democrat Party in favor of his longtime rival Vice President Kamala Harris.

“First, Newsom abandons Californians as he tries to make a big play to replace President Biden. Then, he comes back to California briefly to try to undercut the retail theft and property crime reform initiative sponsored by victims’ groups and law enforcement. And now he’s trying to burnish his national environmental credentials by prematurely forcing Californians into EVs with his phony gas storage plan that will lead to shortages and price spikes,” stated Senate Minority Leader Brian W. Jones. “If only Newsom would use his plotting and scheming for the good of Californians that he was elected to serve. Instead, he shamefully spends his time traipsing around the country and the world trying to impress fat-cat national Democrat enviros and fawning foreign leaders who clearly don’t have Californians’ well-being on their agenda.”

Specifically, the State Senate is scheduled to vote on Assembly Bill X2-1 at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow morning. This measure, sponsored by Newsom, would allow unelected state bureaucrats to order refineries to arbitrarily withhold gasoline from gas stations in California and other Western States. Leader Jones explains the basic economics of why this policy will increase prices in a recent viral Instagram Reel video.

AB X2-1 barely cleared the State Assembly 10 days ago, receiving only a dismal 44 votes in support from Democrat Assemblymembers, despite the Democrats holding a 62-seat supermajority in the 79-member house. In fact,16 Republicans opposed the measure and were even joined in opposition by two Democrats from the Central Valley.

Newsom’s own Energy Commission, in an analysis of AB X2-1, said it could “artificially create shortages in downstream markets” and “increase average [gas] prices.”

Arizona Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs and Nevada Republican Governor Joe Lombardo co-signed a letter opposing Newsom’s crazy plan, expressing concerns “that refinery inventory mandates [arbitrarily withholding gasoline from the market] could result in supply shortages and potential refinery shutdowns, which would have grave impacts to our shared economies and transportation infrastructure across the West.”

Several entities, ranging from labor unions to small businesses to taxpayer advocates, expressed strong opposition, concerns, and fears about how AB X2-1 could drive up gas prices and negatively affect California’s already shaky economy and jobs markets.

One only needs to look at states in the Southeast currently suffering through major, destructive hurricanes, tornados, and storms to see the chaos in the disruption of gasoline supplies resulting from natural disasters.

“If AB X2-1 gets enacted, it could well become known as the ‘California Democrat legislators’ planned gasoline shortage disaster,’” concluded Jones.