Democrats to announce gas rebate plan + Fund water projects, lawmaker says + Who rolled the best roll?
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GAS REBATE PLAN TO BE ANNOUNCED
Via Lindsey Holden...
California drivers struggling with high gasoline prices could soon see some extra money to help offset their pain at the pump.
A group of Assembly members, most of them Democrats, on Thursday will announce their plan to provide $400 rebates to all California taxpayers — not just drivers.
“Many Californians are feeling severe financial pain at the pump and looking to California’s leaders for help,” said Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris, D-Irvine, in a news release. “We believe a rebate is the best approach to directly put money in people’s pockets.”
California’s average gas price on Wednesday was $5.77, according to AAA.
Lawmakers are advocating for every tax filer to get a rebate because “all Californians have seen an increase in living expenses,” the news release said.
“Consistent with the state’s values as the global leader in combating climate change, this will ensure that the rebate includes taxpayers who use public transit, active transportation options, and zero-emission vehicles,” the release said. “By distributing it to every filer, this is the proven, most efficient way to get money out quickly for a stimulus.”
The Assembly rebate proposal is in line with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s call “to put money back in the pockets of Californians to address rising gas prices” from his State of the State address on March 8.
Newsom has never provided any specifics about his plan, but his office did confirm the relief would be in the form of a rebate.
After the State of the State, Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, signaled they would favor using General Fund dollars to help drivers over a tax cut.
But that hasn’t stopped Republican lawmakers from using high gas prices to push for a six-month gas tax holiday. So far, their efforts have been unsuccessful.
On Monday, Democrats voted down a request for a rule suspension from Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, R-Rocklin, which would have allowed for a vote on Assembly Bill 1638, his tax holiday measure.
LAWMAKER URGES FUNDING OF WATER PROJECTS
The California Water Commission must fund two Central Valley water projects to provide desperately needed water to California farmers, argued Assemblyman Vince Fong, R-Bakersfield, argued in a letter to Commission Chair Teresa Alvarado.
“I write to ask the California Water Commission to continue its support of the Kern Fan Project and Sites Reservoir – two water storage projects that are critical to the Central Valley and will benefit the entire state,” Fong wrote in the letter. “The Kern Fan Project consists of canals, pump stations and a new turnout at the California Aqueduct to convey water between the project facilities and the California Aqueduct. Sites Reservoir captures and stores stormwater flows from the Sacramento River for use by urban and agricultural uses.”
Fong notes in the letter that California is facing its third consecutive year of drought, with conditions so dire that the state may soon mandate conservation.
“But it does not have to be this way,” Fong wrote. “That is why voters passed Proposition 1 in 2014 to dedicate $2.7 billion to fund water storage. They wanted their state leaders to plan and build water storage for dry years. This critical funding will provide drinking water for the State’s nearly 40 million residents, help maintain river flows, and irrigate California’s robust farms that grow a third of the country’s vegetables and two-thirds of its fruits and nuts.”
The letter comes as the Water Commission has voted to reallocate remaining Prop. 1 dollars to other eligible water projects.
“The State has not planned adequately for drought years. It is my hope that you reverse this course and dedicate additional funding to the Kern Fan Project and Sites Reservoir to meet the growing demand,” Fong wrote.
AND THE WINNER IS...
For the first time since 2019, the California Rice Commission held its annual sushi rice rolling competition, where state lawmakers and administration officials compete to win bragging rights and a framed samurai sword.
This year, the challengers included Assemblywomen Akilah Weber, D-San Diego; Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, D-Winters; Megan Dahle, R-Bieber; Assemblyman James Gallagher, R-Yuba City; Sen. Brian Jones, R-Santee; and California Department of Water Resources Deputy Director Kris Tjernell.
Dahle won the event.
“To win this prestigious award, I can’t wait to display it on behalf of the California Rice Commission,” Dahle said in a statement. “It’s wonderful to come here and advocate for agriculture. We are dryland wheat farmers, so I appreciate agriculture across the state. When you go out to eat, I hope people are thinking about all of those industries that we have right here in California.”
At the event, the commission also honored Tjernell with the Circle of Life award, for her department’s emergency program for emergency water in rice fields for wildlife habitat.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Oil companies rake in record profits, while hardworking Californians struggle to pay record prices. Some believe the solution is to give #BigOil even more money through a gas tax holiday. We’re working on a plan to provide relief that doesn’t hinge on the kindness of Big Oil.”
- Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, via Twitter.
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The Sacramento-area man facing the most serious charges in the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot case continues to signal that he intends to go to trial, with his lawyers asking a federal judge to move his case out of Washington, D.C., via Sam Stanton.
Richard Louis Brown dodged his opponents for nine months. The SEIU Local 1000 president survived claims that his election was illegitimate. He scoffed at a board of directors vote to strip his leadership powers. Brown, 52, even managed to return to his office in the union’s Sacramento headquarters after three vice presidents locked him out. But he was forced to concede — at least temporarily — when a Sacramento Superior Court judge ordered him last week to stop exercising any powers as president of California’s largest state employee union, via Wes Venteicher.
This story was originally published March 17, 2022 at 4:55 AM.