SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Rosario Lozano stopped working about three months ago.
“I had to stop working to take care of her (infant) and take care of my three year old in the car,” Lozano said.
That’s about the time gas prices started to rise again, and California saw gas prices that were $2.60 more than the national average in October .
“I just stopped going a lot of places. I would stay home for a while.”
Like the California Energy Commission, which couldn’t point to exactly why prices are so much higher in California in a hearing they held earlier this week, Lozano can’t either. She does know however, that if it’s malicious, she wants something done.
“If they do take advantage of that, they should be punished for doing that," Lozano said. "Affecting other people's money."
That’s exactly what Governor Gavin Newsom wants. His special session to make it happen starts on Monday, but Monday is also the start of the regular organizational session. So lawmakers will have a lot to of other things to get to, including swearing in each new member individually and electing the leaders of the party.
“It's not that big of a deal," longtime Lobbyist Chris Micheli said. "You'll basically hear the presiding officers say, ‘we'll recess the regular session and convene the extraordinary session’, and then they'll conduct business for a few minutes.”
Chris Micheli is also an adjunct law professor at McGeorge School of Law. He believes the special session will pick up in January, after the holidays, when lawmakers return to the capitol for the start of the regular session.
He also said the process could take weeks, if not months.
“First of all, we have to wait and see whether the governor submits proposed bills that would accomplish the several goals that he has set forth for this special session," Micheli said, "and then the legislature is going to hold hearings on those pieces of legislation.
Newsom wants to accomplish three things in this session. First, impose a penalty on oil companies for price gouging and return that money to Californians. Second, give additional powers to state agencies to review and monitor the pricing and profiting. Third, greater regulatory oversight in order to address “avoidable” gasoline shortages
We still don’t have anything in writing about how Newsom wants to go about penalizing oil companies, but one observation: Newsom originally said he wanted to tax the oil companies on their excess profits. A tax would require a two-thirds vote by lawmakers. In the official proclamation however, he used the word 'penalty' (think of a red light ticket where if you break the law, you get fined). That’s one of the few exceptions to needing a two-thirds vote. Just needs a simple majority.
Another benefit to calling it a special session is that bills can go into effect as soon as 91 days after the end of the special session. That’s exactly what Newsom wants. His special session to make it happen starts on Monday.
“It's not that big of a deal, which you'll basically hear Morgan is the presiding officers say, ‘we'll recess the regular session and convene the extraordinary session’, and then they'll conduct business for a few minutes.”
Chris Micheli is a longtime lobbyist and adjunct law professor at McGeorge School of Law. He believes the process will pick up in January, after the holidays, when lawmakers return to the capitol for the start of the regular session and that it could take weeks or months.
“First of all, we have to wait and see whether the governor submits proposed bills that would accomplish the several goals that he has set forth for this special session. And then the legislature is going to hold hearings on those pieces of legislation.
We still don’t have anything in writing about how Newsom wants to go about penalizing oil companies, but Newsom originally said he wanted to tax the oil companies on their excess profits - a tax would require a two-thirds vote by lawmakers.
But in his proclamation he used the word penalty - think of a red light ticket where if you break the law you get fined.
That’s one of the few exceptions to needing a two-thirds vote. Just needs a simple majority.
We still don’t have anything in writing about how Newsom wants to go about penalizing oil companies, but Newsom originally said he wanted to tax the oil companies on their excess profits - a tax that would require a two-thirds vote by lawmakers.
But in his proclamation, he used the word penalty - think of a red light ticket where if you break the law you get fined. That’s one of the few exceptions to needing a two-thirds vote. Just needs a simple majority.
Watch Related: A breakdown of the taxes and fees in California gas prices (Oct 7, 2022)