California Politicians Hiked Gas Tax, Now Demand Investigation Into State’s $4 Per Gallon Gas Prices – Reason.com

California Politicians Hiked Gas Tax, Now Demand Investigation Into State’s $4 Per Gallon Gas Prices – Reason.com:

• What could possibly be increasing California's gas prices?

As lieutenant governor, Gavin Newsom supported a 2017 bill increasing the state's gas taxes. 
When running for governor in 2018, he opposed a ballot initiative that would have repealed that same increase. 
It's 2019, and Newson, now the state's governor, is demanding an investigation into why the state's gas prices are so high.

On Tuesday, the governor sent a letter to the California Energy Commission (CEC) asking that the state agency investigate the Golden State's roughly $4.03 per gallon gas prices, currently the highest in the country (and well above the national average of $2.86 per gallon).

...California currently imposes the second-highest gas taxes in the country. 
A state excise tax currently adds $.417 per gallon, a rate that will increase to $.473 come July. 
On top of that, the state imposes a 2.25 percent gasoline sales tax.

In addition, California has adopted a low-carbon fuel standard and a cap-and-trade scheme for carbon emissions which together increase the state's gas prices by $.24 per gallon above the national average, according to a 2017 state government report..."
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