Responding to California Senate Republicans’ call for an emergency special session on refinery closures, Governor Gavin Newsom is once again gaslighting the public, spreading misinformation and presenting only parts of the story.
On X, the governor’s press office posted:
“Gas prices are cheaper today (in real dollars) than they were during @CAGovernor Gavin Newsom’s first month in office — in part because he called two special sessions Republicans voted against.
Now — after 2 years without price spikes at the pump — Republicans are asking for a special session in 2026, when the state is seeing its lowest gas prices in 4 years.
They are not serious about solutions, just looking for political points.”
To provide some truth to the people:
Gas prices are lower today only due to crude oil prices per barrel, the baseline cost of gasoline, being at near multi-year lows.
In regard to legislation passed during his previous special sessions, Senate Bill X1-2 (2023) and Assembly Bill X2-1 (2024) have contributed to the instability facing refineries and contributed to their decisions to close. The gasoline price gouging those bills purport to address was never proven to exist.
Additionally, the California Energy Commission (CEC) voted not to enforce SB X2-1 because it would cause gasoline prices to increase.
Instead of implementing immediate solutions, such as pausing the gas tax, Governor Newsom and legislative Democrats have chosen to put politics over people. In fact, Senate Republicans provided three very serious solutions to the governor in their letter, and offered support for more.
“Gaslight Getty Gavin must’ve forgotten to read the briefs from his own agencies,” said Senate Minority Leader Brian W. Jones (R-San Diego). “We are on the brink of a real crisis, and people literally can’t afford his unwillingness to address the full picture. Senate Republicans are happy to provide a real briefing to him to get this special session going, instead the governor is relying on social media stunts.”
In their letter to the governor, Senate Republicans detailed how years of policies enacted under the Democratic legislative majority and his administration have contributed to California’s consistently highest-in-the-nation gas prices. California is currently the only state in the nation to have gas prices above $4 per gallon, besides Hawaii. Which, notably, is literally a physical island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
The bottom line:
The price of oil per barrel and the cost to get it here is the baseline cost for what we pay at the pump. Once it gets to California, all the regulations, mandates and constraints on the oil and gas industry add to the cost of refining, transporting and just plain conducting business.
And then, in Newsom and the majority party’s final coup de grâce, California’s taxes and fees contribute significantly to high prices.
Now, with the closure of refineries and loss of 20 percent of in-state refining capacity, experts say the price of gas is on its way to $8 per-gallon.
“Don’t try to gaslight Californians with false ‘facts’ about gasoline prices being lower then when you first took office,” said Jones. “Your bad policies, onerous regulations and ever-escalating taxes and fees are why refiners are fleeing, supply is dwindling, and a crisis is looming.”