SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday announced he is calling a special legislative session in December for lawmakers to consider passing a tax on excessive profits oil companies are making because of the spike in California gas prices.
Newsom said he is working with the leadership of the Democratic-controlled legislature to determine the best way to tax the profits and return that money back to Californians getting stung every time they fill up their gas tanks.
“This is just rank price gouging. They can get away with it,” Newsom told reporters during a news conference in Sacramento. “They’re taking advantage of you, every single one of you, every single day. Hundreds of millions of dollars a week they’re putting in their pockets, lining their pockets at your expense, and then polluting this planet and leaving us all the external reality and costs associated with that.”
