SACRAMENTO, California — Gov. Gavin Newsom is trying to do something about California’s high gas prices — and the state’s Republicans want to make sure the rest of the country knows about it.
Newsom’s bid during the last week of the state’s legislative session to expand regulators’ authority over oil companies is giving California Republicans an opportunity to hitch the state’s perpetually high fuel prices to the Democratic Party’s new standard bearer: fellow Californian Kamala Harris.
“Newsom is following Kamalanomics in pushing terrible policies not grounded in economic reality,” Rep. Vince Fong posted Wednesday on X.
Swing-state Republicans are piling on. Arizona’s state Senate president, Warren Petersen, wrote Newsom today warning of “dire impact” from the proposal he unveiled Tuesday, which would authorize the state to order refiners to store more gas. Newsom’s administration says the extra supply would dampen price spikes driven by supply shortages.
The oil industry argues Newsom’s move would only exacerbate supply-driven shortages since refineries have limited storage capacity. They say it’s more likely to drive costs up than bring them down, putting at risk not only California consumers but those of its neighbors at a time when the state is under the national microscope.