Gas prices

A bill to impose new oversight authority and levy potential penalties against the oil industry for extreme profits cleared the full Senate Thursday..

A revised proposal by Governor Gavin Newsom will get its first hearing in a Senate committee Wednesday, six months after he first proposed capping profits to reduce dramatic price spikes at the pump.

The Newsom administration announces it will go through the state Energy Commission instead of the Legislature for a penalty on windfall profits of oil refiners.

A proposal from Governor Gavin Newsom to impose a “price-gouging penalty” on oil companies in response to record gas prices last year received a skeptical reception from state lawmakers during its first hearing Wednesday.

It’s no secret that California drivers pay more on-average for a gallon of gasoline than almost anywhere else in the United States. But finding out exactly why could be more complicated than state regulators bargained for.

Here are the basics of the new windfall profit tax Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed, and how similar taxes have worked in the past.

Supporters of the referendum effort need to gather just over 623,000 signatures by Dec. 15 to get it on the 2024 general election ballot. If successful, the law would be put on hold until that election instead of going into effect this coming January.

Readers had questions about California’s gas rebate payments, including whether it matters how many cars you have and why it’s based on 2020 tax returns. We’ve answered some here.

California Republicans are zeroing in on the three issues on which they say Democrats may be most vulnerable heading into the Nov. 8 election: The rising cost of living, crime and homelessness.

Gov. Gavin Newsom called a special legislative session on rebates to offset high gas prices funded by a windfall profits tax on oil companies. The session will be Dec. 5, timed with the swearing-in of the new Legislature.

California currently has the most expensive gas in the nation, according to the American Automobile Association.

Fuel prices in Oregon spiked 50 cents per gallon over the last week — the sharpest spike of any state in the country.