SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The California state Assembly approved a bill Tuesday backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom aimed at preventing gas prices from spiking, particularly in late summer months when demand for gas goes up.
The legislation would authorize state energy regulators to set requirements for companies to maintain a certain level of fuel on hand — using existing storage to avoid gas prices from increasing suddenly when refineries go offline for maintenance. The state would have to determine first that the benefits of any minimum inventory rules outweigh the potential cost to consumers under the bill.
“This bill incentivizes fuel refineries to plan proactively, saving Californians — consumers — billions at the pump while maintaining profits,” said Assemblymember Gregg Hart, a Democrat representing Santa Barbara who authored the bill. “Let’s take action now to provide relief to Californians who need gasoline in their cars to get to work, drive their children to school, vote and visit loved ones."
The Assembly also advanced a bill requiring state energy officials to release a report to lawmakers by July 1, 2025, on proposals to increase gas supply. The bills still need the state Senate's approval before reaching the governor's desk.
Proponents of the bill say it would save Californians billions of dollars at the pump. But opponents say it could unintentionally raise overall gas prices and threaten the safety of workers by giving the state more oversight over refinery maintenance schedules. They argued delaying necessary maintenance could lead to accidents.
“Without a deep understanding of the complexities of refinery operations, policymakers are gambling with consumers’ wallets,” Catherine Reheis-Boyd, CEO of the Western States Petroleum Association, said in a statement.
Newsom's proposal escalated an ongoing battle against the oil industry over its emissions and profits. His administration says oil industry profits increase during gas price spikes. Newsom unveiled the legislation in August, during the last week of the regular legislative session.
Democratic leaders in the state Senate wanted to pass the bill before their legislative deadline, but Democrats in the Assembly wanted more time to consider it. Newsom then called the Legislature into a special session to try to pass the proposal.
Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire said at the time the Senate would not convene for the special session, but his office said Tuesday night that the chamber will vote on the bill next week.
“The Senate intends to work quickly and efficiently so that we can get Californians the relief they deserve at the pump,” McGuire said in a statement. “We appreciate the Assembly’s work on this issue, and we’ll be kicking off our legislative process on October 7.”
It’s not the first time Newsom has tried to apply pressure on the Legislature to pass oil and gas regulations. He called a special session in 2022 in an effort to pass a tax on oil company profits. The governor then said he wanted a penalty, not a tax. The law he ended up signing months later gave state regulators the power to penalize oil companies for making too much money.
Newsom said Tuesday his proposal to prevent gas price spikes could help keep families from having to choose “between fueling up or putting food on the table.”
Californians pay the highest rates at the pump due to taxes and environmental regulations. The average price for regular unleaded gas in the state is about $4.68 per gallon as of Tuesday, compared to the national average of $3.20, according to AAA.
Gas prices increase more in California than in the rest of the country, according to the California Energy Commission. That is in part because only four refiners supply about 90% of the state’s gas, meaning one refiner’s decision to go offline for maintenance has a greater impact on the market, said Tai Milder, director of the commission’s Division of Petroleum Market Oversight.
“California's consumers are rightfully sick and tired of paying inflated prices during price spikes,” Milder said at a hearing last week. “These price spikes are not normal.”
Republican lawmakers opposed Newsom's minimum inventory proposal, saying there wasn’t enough evidence that the measure would help California lower gas prices. Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher introduced a proposal to exempt transportation fuels from the state's cap and trade program in an effort to lower gas prices, but it was blocked last week by an Assembly committee that vetted the special session bills.
The measure to avoid spikes in gas prices doesn't actually address the current rates at the pump, they said.
“Isn’t it strange that we have this big special session, we all come back, and there’s not one bill that we’re considering that actually lowers the price of gas?” Gallagher asked Tuesday. “What are we doing here?”
Associated Press reporter Trân Nguyễn contributed.
Austin is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin on X: @sophieadanna
FILE - California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a press conference in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer, File)
FILE - A sign at a Sinclair gas station is seen next to an Arco gas station advertising gasoline prices, June 10, 2024, in Long Beach, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — Tim Walz and JD Vance on Tuesday went after each other's running mates in a vice presidential debate that opened with a discussion of burgeoning domestic and international troubles — a hurricane that ravaged much of the southeast U.S. and growing fears of a regional Middle East war.
Both Walz, the Democratic governor of Minnesota, and Vance, a Republican senator from Ohio, focused many of their attacks at the top of the ticket, as is traditional for VP debates. They each pointed to the crises of the day as reasons for voters to choose Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump.
Walz, answering a question on whether he'd support a preemptive strike on Iran after it launched missiles at Israel, painted Trump as too dangerous for the country and the world in an unstable moment.
“What’s fundamental here is that steady leadership is going to matter,” said Walz, the Democratic governor of Minnesota. "And the world saw it on that debate stage a few weeks ago, a nearly 80-year-old Donald Trump talking about crowd sizes is not what we need in this moment.”
Vance, in his reply, argued that Trump is an intimidating figure whose presence on the international stage is its own deterrent.
“Donald Trump actually delivered stability," he said.
The debate in New York hosted by CBS News opened with a sober tone that reflected growing domestic and international concerns about safety and security. But it gave way to sharper attacks from both Walz and Vance — and a moment in which the moderators stopped the discussion by cutting the two men's mics.
Walz accused Vance and Trump of villainizing legal immigrants in Vance’s home state. He pointed to the fact that Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine had to send in extra law enforcement to provide security to the city’s schools after Vance tweeted about and Trump amplified false claims about Haitians eating pets.
“This is what happens when you don’t want to solve it, you demonize it,” Walz said, saying not doing so would allow people to “come together.”
Vance said the 15,000 Haitians in the city had caused housing, economic and other issues that the Biden-Harris administration was ignoring.
When the debate moderators pointed out that the Haitians living there had legal status, Vance protested that CBS News had said its moderators would not be fact-checking, leaving the onus to the candidates. As Vance continued and the moderators tried to move on, his microphone was cut and neither man could be heard.
Both men found unity on Hurricane Helene, which has devastated several states and caused massive flooding in North Carolina in particular. Walz mentioned the storm’s devastation and talked about working with governors across the country, saying they don’t let politics get in the way of collaborating.
The question about Hurricane Helene led to a moment of political comity as Vance said, “I’m sure Gov. Walz joins me in saying our hearts go out to those innocent people.”
The two Midwesterners struck a noticeably friendlier tone than matchup between Trump and Harris — or, earlier this year, Trump and President Joe Biden before he dropped out of the race.
When they first turned to immigration and the influx of migrants coming over the U.S.-Mexico border, one of the most heated topics of the campaign, the two men credited each other with having good intentions.
“I believe Senator Vance wants to solve this, but by standing with Donald Trump and not working together to find a solution, it becomes a talking point and when it becomes a talking point like this, we dehumanize and villainize other human beings,” Walz said.
Vance echoed the sentiment, saying, “I think you want to solve this problem, but I don’t think that Kamala Harris does.”
Polls have shown Harris and Trump locked in a close contest, giving added weight to anything that can sway voters on the margins, including the impression left by the vice presidential candidates. It also might be the last debate of the campaign, with the Harris and Trump teams failing to agree on another meeting.
The role of a presidential running mate is typically to serve as an attack dog for the person at the top of the ticket, arguing against the opposing presidential candidate and their proxy on stage. Both Vance and Walz have embraced that role.
Early Tuesday night, Vance was giving a largely measured performance instead of assuming his combative persona from the campaign trail or in media interviews.
Walz, meanwhile, did not deploy the arsenal of folksy zingers that excited Democrats when he was named as Harris’ running mate.
Vance's occasionally confrontational interviews and appearances have underscored why Trump picked him for the Republican ticket despite his past biting criticisms of the former president, including once suggesting Trump would be “America’s Hitler.”
“When you get something wrong and you change your mind, you ought to be honest with the American people,” he said Tuesday.
Walz had catapulted onto Harris’ campaign by branding Trump and Republicans as “ just weird,” creating an attack line for Democrats seeking to argue Republicans are disconnected from the American people.
He was pressed Tuesday on his misleading claim, which was investigated this week by Minnesota Public Radio and other outlets, that he was in Hong Kong during the turbulence surrounding the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, part of a broader pattern of inaccuracies that Republicans hope to exploit.
Confronted with his misstatements about his travels to China years ago, Walz defended himself by saying, “I’ve not been perfect.” In fact, he said, “I’m a knucklehead at times.” Eventually, he acknowledged he misspoke about his history.
A new AP-NORC poll found that Walz is better liked than Vance, potentially giving the Republican an added challenge.
Trump, on Tuesday evening, said his advice to Vance was to “have a lot of fun” and praised his running mate as a “smart guy” and “a real warrior.”
Price and Megerian reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Josh Boak in Baltimore, and Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed to this report.
Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a vice presidential debate hosted by CBS News, with Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, left, and Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, arrive for a CBS News vice presidential debate, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, speaks during a vice presidential debate hosted by CBS News, with Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a vice presidential debate hosted by CBS News, with Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, speaks during a vice presidential debate hosted by CBS News, with Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
A person walks dogs a day ahead of a CBS News vice presidential debate between Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, and Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, in New York., Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
A day ahead of a CBS News vice presidential debate between Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, and Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, in New York., Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Members of the press wait to bring in equipment a day ahead of a CBS News vice presidential debate between Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, and Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, in New York., Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, speaks during a campaign rally Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Newtown, Pa. (AP Photo/Laurence Kesterson)
This combination of photos shows Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, left, at the DNC on Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago, and Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, on Sept. 25, 2024, in Traverse City, Mich. (AP Photo)
