Windfall Profits Tax On Oil Companies Appears Delayed Until January

According to a CalMatters report, the much ballyhooed proposed tax on California oil company windfall profits is not expected to be seriously considered until January of the new year. Initially Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to enact a windfall profits tax was set to be introduced in a special legislative session beginning on Dec. 5

However, the specifics of the proposal aren’t likely to surface until the start of the special session, the same day legislators will be sworn into office, according to Newsom’s office.

Legislators don’t expect to take substantive action on the issue until January, when the next legislative session officially starts. The office of Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, a San Diego Democrat, said in a statement:

“The Dec. 5 session will be focused on swearing in of new members and organizational matters, and may include taking steps to establish and organize the special session. We anticipate working with the Governor and his team on the special session/windfall penalty and rebate issue once we convene in January.”

Newsom has proposed returning revenue from the new tax to Californians in the form of rebates, similar to those the state is currently sending to Californians.

Big Oil interests are gearing up for a political fight-to-the-death once the proposed law is introduced. Millions of dollars will be spent by oil companies to cajole legislators to cold-shoulder the bill. They’ll tell Sacramento politicians that approving a new tax will be a politically perilous move and could be unpopular amid concerns of an impending recession and California’s projected $25 billion budget deficit for the next fiscal year. Blah, blah, blah …

Next week, the California Energy Commission is scheduled to hold a meeting on Nov. 29 with oil industry executives and experts to seek more information about gas price spikes, refinery disruptions and record industry profits.

We’ll find out soon if our elected representatives are going to protect citizens from pricegouging at gas pumps.

Workers and the ever-shrinking middle class are getting hammered economically at every turn.

It’s way past time to put a stop to the illegal fixing of the marketplace by these corporate outlaws. We’ll see soon who our state legislators stand with — or lay down for.