SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Nearly five months after Gavin Newsom initially called for a penalty on excessive oil company profits, the governor and lawmakers in Sacramento appear no closer to deciding how to prevent the kind of gasoline price spikes that Californians experienced last year.
At the first legislative hearing on the governor's proposal at the state Capitol on Wednesday, lawmakers shared concerns about potential unintended consequences of his desire to cap the industry's earnings.
Some oil market experts said Newsom's idea to limit oil refinery profits wouldn't solve the problem — and one called it a "tax gimmick." Other economists agreed with the Newsom administration about demanding more transparency from oil refiners on pricing, maintenance, supply contracts and inventory.
