following a summer of record-high gas prices in the nation's most populous state.
“We're burning up. We're choking up. We're heating up because of these folks,” Newsom said, referring to the oil industry and its impact on the environment. “And people are barely able to pay their bills because of these folks.” “Whatever Gov. Newsom wants to call it, this is a tax and it's going to have the same impact that all taxes do on consumers, and that is to raises costs, not bring them down,” said Kevin Slagle, spokesperson for the Western States Petroleum Association. “We think the governor should be honest about what this is and let the legislators vote on a tax and sell it to the California public as a tax and see how people feel about it.
Many lawmakers said they had no idea what Newsom was proposing. A few senators joined reporters at Newsom's news conference outside Senate chambers just to hear what he had to say. Among the new state senators is Angelique Ashby, a Democrat who narrowly won election after an intense campaign. The oil industry spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on radio and TV ads supporting Ashby's campaign, a trend noticed by critics who tried to use it against her.