California gas rebate could bring some relief to drivers

LOS ANGELES - Some relief could be coming to California drivers. Democratic state lawmakers announced a $400 gas rebate proposal for every California taxpayer. 

For many Californians the rebate would mean a lot.  

Karen Oschin normally pays $70 or $80 to fill up her tank, but lately she’s been paying over $100. 
The rising gas costs make drivers like Oschin and others worry about their budget. 

The war in Ukraine has been the biggest factor to kick prices to the moon, but there’s another war in Sacramento...who has the better gas relief plan? 

A group of democratic assemblymembers held a news conference Thursday to announce the plan. 

"We now confront the challenge of inflation, the worst February in 40 years of rising costs," said Assemblymember Ken Cooley.

RELATED: Californians could soon get a $400 gas rebate

The plan is to give every state taxpayer $400, regardless of whether they drive a car and fill up at the pump.

The proposal would use $9 billion of the state's budget surplus to provide the rebate, which is expected to cover the 51.1-cent-per-gallon gas tax for one full year of weekly fill-ups for a car with a 15-gallon gas tank.

Another way to think about it is if you divide $400 by 52-weeks you get a savings of just $7.69 a week.

Republican Assemblyman Kevin Kiley wants the gas tax suspended for 6 months. The first try failed Wednesday, but he plans to try again Monday. 

"That’s something we could do immediately; that people would feel right away as opposed to this rebate that’s going to be months down the road and is not a whole lot of people right now," Kiley stated. 

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