SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) — Governor Gavin Newsom on Saturday called for a special session of the Legislature to address gasoline price spikes, saying it was needed immediately to stop future price jumps.
Newsom had hinted this week at the possibility of a special session. However, his office said it wouldn’t be needed if lawmakers passed a package of bills that would save people money.
His announcement came in the waning hours of this year’s session, which had to adjourn for the year by midnight.
“It should be common sense for gas refineries to plan ahead and backfill supplies when they go down for maintenance to avoid price spikes,” Newsom said in a statement. “But these price spikes are actually profit spikes for Big Oil, and they’re using the same old scare tactics to maintain the status quo.”
The special session would authorize the state’s energy commission to create regulations, requiring fuel refiners to show that their resupply plans could handle a loss in production from refinery maintenance, while protecting employee and public health. Newsom also wants the energy commission to make minimum inventory requirements for refineries.
Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire pushed back on the possibility of a special session, saying legislators had been working to pass existing bills this legislative session to address the issue.
One of those bills, which would have tweaked an existing solar panel program for homes, was pulled from consideration on Friday.
“We won’t be convening a special session this fall, but we look forward to continuing conversations with the governor and speaker about this critical issue in the days and weeks to come,” McGuire said.
The governor can call for a special session. However, the Legislature decides whether to convene it.
Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas in a statement welcomed the special session, saying his priority was to stop soaring gas prices.
“While I respect the pro tem’s position, the Assembly is united: We want the public to have a voice in this process, and that hasn’t happened yet,” Rivas said. “We need to get this right.”
Newsom’s call for the special session briefly disrupted the legislative session. State Senator Brian Jones, the chamber’s Republican minority leader, asked the presiding Senate president if the governor had made any formal announcement to the chamber. When told there was no announcement, Jones suggested they look at a major newspaper for it.
The Assembly convened the special session long enough to adopt rules for it before quickly returning to the regular session.
Ultimately, the governor’s announcement was one of many last-minute maneuvers in a marathon session, with lawmakers racing to pass their bills before the session ended.
Reparations bills
It appeared that two bills championed by the Coalition for a Just and Equitable California didn’t beat the deadline.
Coalition members heard that two reparations-related bills by state Senator Steven Bradford, a Gardena Democrat, wouldn’t reach a vote in the Assembly.
Senate Bill 1331, called the Fund for Reparations and Reparative Justice, would have made a fund that could pay for future policies to address harms caused to descendants of enslaved people or descendants of a free Black person in America before the 20th century.
Senate Bill 1403 would have formed the California American Freedman Affairs Agency. It would have genealogy and legal affairs offices and work toward establishing eligibility for restitution programs for qualifying people.
Instead of reaching a vote of the Assembly, the bills were stymied at the last minute.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous for the California Legislative Black Caucus to stand in the way and not bring this to the floor,” said Nzinga Griffin, a coalition member, as she stood near the Assembly chamber.
The caucus in a letter issued Saturday said it remained focused on its reparations package of bills that the caucus had approved. The caucus was unable to be involved in the legislative process for Senate Bill 1403, writing that work will continue on it and it’ll be reintroduced next year.
Senate Bill 1331 wasn’t part of the caucus’ package, and it wouldn’t advance, it wrote.
“Yes, we’re frustrated,” Griffin said. “We’re upset. Just do your job.”
Iris Peoples, also with the coalition, said the caucus was playing hardball because Bradford collaborated with grassroots organizations when crafting his bills as opposed to working with the caucus. The caucus in its letter said it remained committed to its long-term goals, adding the efforts will take more than a year.
Bradford in a statement said he’d continue on Saturday in his attempts to bring the bills up for a vote. However, the bills were shelved later that night, a move Bradford said he opposed.
A chaotic day
The last day of any session is chaotic. The second floor of the Capitol was filled with people, some of them crowded around televisions broadcasting both chambers’ activities live.
Assemblymember and Speaker Pro Tempore Jim Wood, standing at the speaker’s lectern at the start of Saturday’s session, said he didn’t know when his chamber would adjourn that evening.
But he assured those gathered: They would go no further than midnight.
Chaos quickly appeared as time passed. As midnight approached, and lawmakers kept debating, Wood called for arguments to be limited to 30 seconds per member. That led Republicans to denounce the move. Ultimately, Wood ruled that he would no longer call on Assemblymember Bill Essayli, a Corona Republican, after saying he was using delaying tactics.
Essayli responded by shouting with no microphone, at one point calling the move “a dictatorship.” He later stormed from the Assembly chambers.
On the other side of the Capitol, the final minutes went smoother. Both houses started their final legislative day in the early afternoon and both had dozens of bills they needed to vote on before midnight struck, the constitutional end of the session for the year.
Assembly Bill 98, which would impose statewide standards for warehouses, barely made the cut. It passed the Senate and, much closer to midnight, the Assembly. It’s now before the governor.
Written by Democratic Assemblymembers Juan Carrillo and Eloise Reyes, the bill received rare opposition from multiple Senate Democrats. It would create statewide standards for warehouses.
Democrats and Republicans speaking against the bill shared many of the same arguments. The bill, which would prohibit local governments from approving new or expanded developments unless they met certain standards, came at the last minute. It would impose a “one-size-fits-all” standard across the state. And, some senators warned, it could stifle development.
“This one-size-fits-all approach undermines local control,” said state Senator Shannon Grove, a Bakersfield Republican.
State Senator Caroline Menjivar, a San Fernando Valley Democrat, said the bill appeared in the last moments of the legislative session, with not all those affected at the negotiating table. She also said that no environmental groups favored the bill — a point state Senator Josh Becker, a Menlo Park Democrat, also noted.
“Sometimes a solution for one area doesn’t fit every area in California,” said state Senator Angelique Ashby, a Sacramento Democrat.
State Senator Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat, said that opponents characterized the bill as just arriving from outer space. Instead, lawmakers have been working on aspects of the bill since late 2016.
“Is it perfect?” he asked. “No. No bill is going to be perfect.”
Carrying the bill in the state Senate, state Senator Monique Limón said no standards currently exist. Additionally, local governments could opt to impose stricter requirements on warehouses if they want.
“This allows for a floor,” the Santa Barbara Democrat said. “It does not set a ceiling.”
The Legislature sent several bills to the governor before the session ended:
• Senate Bill 961, written by Wiener, would require all new cars in California, starting with 2030 models, to have a passive audio and visual alert when a driver exceeds the speed limit by 10 mph.
• Senate Bill 1414, written by Grove, increases penalties for someone convicted of soliciting a minor under the age of 16. Grove’s original bill would have upped the penalty for a victim under 18, though the age range was changed in the committee process.
“Thank God we got SB 1414 off the floor,” Grove said after the vote. “I will never stop fighting for kids.”
• Senate Bill 268 — written by state Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil, a Jackson Republican — passed the state Senate unanimously and now heads to the governor. It makes rape of an intoxicated person a violent felony, when the offender drugs someone with the intent to commit sexual assault.
• The Assembly passed Assembly Bill 224, written by Baldwin Park Democratic Assemblymember Blanca Rubio. It extends a legal exemption to 2030 for newspaper carriers. Qualifying carriers wouldn’t be affected by a state law that places more requirements on employees as opposed to contract workers like carriers.
• Senate Bill 1053 — written by state Senator Catherine Blakespear, an Encinitas Democrat — passed its final vote on Friday. It will change the state’s plastic-bag ban, removing the exemption for thicker plastic bags currently in place. That will leave customers a choice of only paper or canvas bags.
If signed into law, the revised plastic ban becomes effective Jan. 1.