More Californians blame gas taxes for highest gas prices than ‘extortion’ – California Globe

Nearly half of Californians blame state taxes for California’s high gas prices, according to a recently released poll by Slingshot California Topline. Only about a third say that the price hike is to blame.

While gas prices in California have always been on the high side, drivers in the state have felt the pinch in recent decades thanks to ever-increasing gasoline taxes. In 2022, the combined additional taxes, designed to get the same amount out of gasoline now as the state gets more electric cars on the road, hit $1.30. By 2026, thanks in large part to a “clean air tax,” it will be about $2 in 2026. Even the headline tax on gasoline has risen more than steadily in recent years, including a jump from 58 cents per gallon to 60 cents per gallon in early July.

At the same time, Governor Gavin Newsom has said that the rising oil prices are not due to the gasoline tax, but to the oil industry’s profiteering. In May, he even signed a law that instituted the profiteering on gas prices. The California Energy Commission (CEC) had a different story to tell, namely that the spikes in recent years were caused by refineries being temporarily shut down because there wasn’t enough oil going to them. The CEC also said that the lower prices this year were caused by many factors, including a reduction in industry costs and profits, lower crude oil costs and a reduction in the amount that environmental programs get. Essentially, it was a number of factors. They could have gone even lower, but as the CEC noted, the only thing that went up was the gasoline tax itself.

And for voters, that’s what they’ve seen. “Price rage” is largely shifts in crude prices and companies having to charge more because of added stress on refineries and transportation from high demand. But the gasoline tax is constant, regardless of demand and other factors, and lawmakers refuse to do anything about it. Even a measure to cut the gasoline tax by $1 to help struggling Californians failed to pass last year.

Voters have seen this, and the latest polls show it. According to the Topline poll, 47% believe the gasoline tax is to blame for California’s higher gas prices — by far the highest figure in the poll. The next highest figure, just 35%, blamed excessive pricing. Third on the list was California’s special blend of gasoline meant to reduce pollution, which only 25% of voters said was true. Other answers included 18% who cited California’s higher operating costs, 15% who cited California’s restrictions on oil drilling and refinery expansion, and 14% who cited government regulations.

Pay more at the pump

Given that Newsom has railed against price gouging for years, about two-thirds of the state still refuses to believe him on the price gouging. But they do believe that the culprit is the last thing Newsom and the state Democrats wanted to blame: the gas tax. And not price gouging, because there’s absolutely no evidence of that.

“Newsom sent a bold signal in 2022 that he blamed refineries when gas prices soared to $6.22 a gallon and the state created an independent watchdog to investigate market manipulation,” USC associate professor of business administration Shon Hiatt said in a statement. “But the investigation is ongoing and ‘we have not yet seen evidence of predatory pricing.’”

It is therefore not surprising to many researchers that most people think that the gasoline tax is the culprit.

“It’s a multifactorial reason for higher prices in California, but when you break it down, the gas tax is the biggest part,” explains fuel price researcher Glenn Brown. “The poll shows that voters aren’t buying into the rent-seeking as much as some lawmakers thought. They’re still pointing to the gas tax, probably because it’s creeping up while everything else, including crude oil prices, is falling. It’s harder to justify rent-seeking when those common ‘rent-seeking’ prices are falling.”

“$2 more in 2026 from gasoline taxes. That’s a simple deduction for people at the pump. It adds up fast.”

More polls on gas prices are coming soon.