California’s latest policy band-aid takes a page out of the coronavirus playbook: Doling out the cash.
Several Democratic state lawmakers introduced a $400 tax rebate proposal, which would go out to every single California taxpayer if signed into law.
The politicians argue that the rebate would mitigate the cost of gasoline on average residents as prices rise due to factors ranging from inflation, President Joe Biden’s poor energy policies, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict to a lesser extent.
“Many Californians are feeling severe financial pain at the pump and looking to California’s leaders for help,” Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris (D-Irvine) said, according to Fox Los Angeles.
“We believe a rebate is the best approach to directly put money in people’s pockets.”
Of course, there are some obvious holes in this proposal that will likely be ignored by the Democratic supermajority in Sacramento.
First, this would be doled out to every single taxpayer in California, regardless of whether or not they drive or own a car, Fox pointed out. Although this money would come out of the budget surplus, this means that it will also be going to people who did not pay that much in taxes and will use it for unrelated purposes. That’s not fiscally responsible, period.
Then the second issue with this proposal is the fact that there is a much more simple way to lower gas prices instantly, which is by declaring a state gas tax holiday. Californians pay 51.1 cents per gallon, and suspending that would be the logical way to save drivers money.
State Sen. Scott Wilk (R-Santa Clarita) and his fellow Republican colleagues have been calling for this prior to the Democrats’ rebate announcement.
“Californians currently pay $1.27 more per gallon of gasoline compared to the national average. They pay 51.1 cents per gallon (cpg) of gasoline excise taxes, which absent your proposal to curb the inflation adjustment for a year, will rise to 54.1 cpg on July 1,” the California State Senate Republican Caucus wrote in a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA).
“At a time when the state budget is enjoying historic surpluses, we need to take bold action to help everyday Californians. Your proposal to postpone increases for a year is a small step in the right direction, but falls far short of protecting California working families and the economy from the devastating impacts likely to result from an extended conflict in Eastern Europe that disrupts oil supplies.”
If the Democrats’ proposal makes it through the legislature successfully, it demonstrates that they would rather carelessly throw cash at people rather than eliminate one of the liberal causes of the issue.
Today the average price for a regular gallon of gas in CA was $5.75.
Just 25 cents away from a statewide $6 average, yet #CADems are still ignoring Republicans' call for a full Gas Tax Holiday. #GasIsTooDamnHigh pic.twitter.com/eTFydfWwev
— Scott Wilk (@ScottWilkCA) March 16, 2022
California Democrats have consistently proven themselves to be unwilling to admit when they’re wrong, whether it’s on mask-wearing or gas prices.
While nobody should trust that the surplus would be spent wisely, that cash should be invested in ending the humanitarian crisis plaguing the major cities and trickling into the suburbs. If they wanted to give some of that money back to California taxpayers, they should start with the people who have paid ridiculous amounts in taxes to the state and work their way down.
