California Senate passes bill aimed at preventing gas price spikes

Associated Press/Report for America

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The California state Senate has passed a bill aimed at preventing gas prices from spiking at the pump. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is backing the proposal. He called lawmakers into a special session to consider it. The bill was approved Friday by the Senate and would give energy regulators the authority to require refiners to keep a certain amount of fuel on hand. The goal is to try to keep prices from increasing suddenly when refiners go offline for maintenance. Proponents say it would save Californians billions of dollars at the pump. But opponents say it could unintentionally raise overall gas prices.