(CALMATTERS) – The average price of a gallon of gas has officially surpassed $6 for the first time in California — and U.S. — history.
The Golden State set a new record Wednesday with an average per-gallon cost of $6.05, though the price climbed as high as $7 in remote Mono County, according to AAA. The national average, meanwhile, was nearly $1.50 cheaper at $4.56 per gallon.
Gov. Gavin Newsom — apparently sensing that skyrocketing inflation rates might top rising COVID rates on many Californians’ list of concerns — pivoted from vaccines to the soaring cost of living while speaking Wednesday at a Bakersfield clinic after receiving his second booster shot.
- Newsom: “We are proposing an $18.1 billion additional package of relief … to address the pressures, the cost pressures, the inflationary pressures, that everybody’s feeling. … We recognize the world we’re living in, the anxiety and stress so many people are facing. But this state is better positioned than any other state to address those issues head-on, and we look forward to making real on these promises … by finalizing budget negotiations with the Legislature and getting those checks out.”
- Senate Republican Leader Scott Wilk of Lancaster tweeted: “To use Gavin Newsom-style lingo, CA Democrats have left CA’s most vulnerable in petrol purgatory by dangling the promise of relief. Republicans have a plan to provide it NOW” by suspending the gas excise tax.