Photo: JOSEPH PREZIOSO/Getty Images
This Monday the first sanction was approved against the oil companies that, according to California legislators, intend to benefit from the increase in gasoline prices, which affected hundreds of citizens of that state last summer.
According to AAA, the average price of gasoline in California reached a record of $6.44 dollars per gallon. In this sense, Governor Gavin Newsom urged the legislature to pass a tax on the profits of oil companies.
Other states with higher prices include: Hawaii ($4.83), Nevada ($4.20), Washington ($4.14) and Colorado ($4.03), according to Gas Buddy.
In a report published in the last week of February by Gas Buddy, 9 out of 10 states in the US have experienced a drop in gasoline prices in the last week, with the national average standing at $3.33 a gallon.
Although in a first discussion, the legislators pointed out that a new tax could discourage supply and raise prices further. The agreement was to let the California Energy Commission under review decide which companies will be penalized. and they will also have to submit reports to state regulators on prices.
For Assemblywoman Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, the presentation of reports by the oil companies to the commission that will investigate the oil market will help to avoid sanctions “the fact that they have to tell us what is happening will prevent them from defrauding our consumers,” he said.
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