Gov. Gavin Newsom’s gas tax relief is a regressive not progressive rebate, according to a Republican attorney who is campaigning for a seat in the California Assembly.
“The Republican solution would be to suspend the gas tax, which will provide immediate relief at the gas pump and that's the only fair way to do it because otherwise, you're just sending money out to people who you have no idea if they have an electric car or gas car,” said Bill Essayli, who is seeking election in District 63. “You have no idea how much people actually drive so it's not really fair to give everyone who owns a car $400."
Gov. Newsom announced his proposal last week to spend $9 billion in tax refunds in the form of direct payments of $400 to car owners statewide, according to media reports.
Attorney Bilal Essayli
| Bilal Essayli website
“The $400 isn’t even going to be handed out until July and people need help now not in July,” Essayli told the Southern California Record. “They could have excluded electric vehicles but they didn't want to send the wrong message about disincentivizing green cars.”
As previously reported, gas prices are rising daily statewide. Regular unleaded fuel costs $6.599 per gallon in Los Angeles, alone.
“The Republicans in the Assembly have forced now two votes on suspending the gas tax and every single time the Democrats are unified in opposition,” Essayli said. “They do not want to do anything to provide immediate relief. It's a nice talking point and it sounds good to say ‘We're sending you money’ but they're not serious about it.”
Essayli previously campaigned for election in Assembly District 60 but lost in the 2018 general election. Democrat Sabrina Cervantes won by approximately 10,000 votes, according to BallotPedia.
“I believe the governor is sitting on hundreds or thousands of permits that would allow oil producers to drill in California and they have refused to move on any of those,” Essayli added. “There's been a total moratorium on that, so they are not allowing us to drill or expand our production in California. That's something the governor could fix with the stroke of a pen. He just doesn't want to.”