Jessica Cejnar Andrews / Thursday, April 7, 2022 @ 11:19 a.m. / Local Government
Crescent City Councilors Send Letter to Lawmakers, Ask for Relief From Rising Gas Prices
Crescent City Councilors will appeal to state lawmakers for relief at the gas pump for their constituents. Photo via Max Pixel | Creative Commons License
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Crescent City Councilor Beau Smith called a generic letter appealing to state and federal representatives to provide citizens with relief from escalating gas prices “something.”
City Attorney Martha Rice on Monday presented Smith and his colleagues with sample letters addressed to U.S. senators Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla and Congressman Jared Huffman and to State Sen. Mike McGuire and Assemblyman Jim Wood.
According to Rice, the city had consulted with Sara Sanders, a representative with the League of California Cities, for a template to use. But when Sanders didn’t have a draft letter to share, staff came up with their own letter.
“The City Council is requesting that each of you support legislative efforts that would provide economic relief to our residents based upon the rising price of fuel,” the letter states. “We understand that there are proposals for tax rebates as well as proposals for a suspension of the federal excise tax on gasoline. The City Council is supportive of any proposal that would provide relief to our residents; provided that critical transportation funding is not diminished.”
The City Council voted 4-1 in favor of sending the letter to state and federal lawmakers. Councilor Ray Altman dissented.
Smith, whose request to discuss the issue prompted a heated debate among him and his colleagues on March 21, noted on Monday that gas prices were even higher.
“I don’t know if anybody’s noticed, but I sure have,” he said. “For me, I’m glad to see something on paper.”
On March 21, Smith proposed making modifying Measure S, the city’s 1 percent sales tax measure, to make gasoline exempt even though it’s only 6 cents per gallon. Councilor Blake Inscore suggested urging state lawmakers to suspend the excise tax and backfill the loss of revenue with the surplus in the state’s general fund.
In Del Norte County, gas prices range from $5.80 at Fort Dick Market and $5.89 at the Hiouchi Hamlet Chevron as of Thursday, according to GasBuddy.
On March 21, Rice told Councilors that it’s the price of crude oil that drives what consumers pay at the pump. Domestic crude oil production decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic and has yet to recover, she said. Meanwhile, sanctions imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, including the United States’ refusal to buy Russian crude oil, has created a higher global demand.
On Monday, Rice outlined ideas at the state level to provide relief to consumers, including Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to offer $400 rebates to each registered vehicle owner. Those rebates are limited to two per person with the rationale being that the average California driver spends about $300 in state excise tax annually.
California lawmakers are also proposing $400 rebates in the form of direct payments to every taxpayer including those who don’t own a vehicle, according to Rice’s staff report. The $400 represents the 51 cents per gallon excise tax an individual pays annually for 15 gallons of gas per week.
State lawmakers also propose suspending the excise tax for six months and would backfill this loss of revenue with money from the general fund, according to Rice’s report.
At the national level, U.S. reps. Mike Thompson, of California, John Larson, of Connecticut, and Lauren Underwood, of Illinois, introduced the Gas Rebate Act of 2022 on March 17. If approved, this bill would provide a $100 monthly energy rebate to every adult and $100 for each dependent per month through the remainder of the year as long as the national average gas price exceeds $4 per gallon.
According to Rice’s staff report, the rebates would be phased out. Single taxpayers earning more than $80,000 and joint filers earning $160,000 or more would be ineligible for the rebates.
Congress is also considering the Gas Prices Relief Act of 2022, which provides a temporary exemption from the federal excise tax on gas with the general fund backfilling the loss of revenue, according to Rice.
On Monday, Rice said U.S. President Joe Biden had also authorized the release of 180 million more barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve over the next six months.
“That is the largest release since the Strategic Reserve was implemented in 1974,” Rice told Councilors. “That’s expected to have some impact, but even that alone is not going to be the fix-all.”
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