Newsom takes aim at Big Oil

It’s crunch time on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s special session: This morning, an Assembly committee will hear — and possibly vote on — his bill that would authorize the California Energy Commission to require oil refineries to keep a minimum stock of fuel as a way to curb gasoline price spikes.

That’s an argument Republican legislators and refinery companies fiercely dispute, but Newsom is counting on fellow Democrats to get the bill to his desk.

Two other bills are also on today’s agenda: One, authored by Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris, an Irvine Democrat who leads the special session committee, would order the state’s Air Resources Board to study the use of gasoline with 15% ethanol. 

The other, by GOP Assembly leader James Gallagher of Chico, would require the energy commission to switch to the less expensive but less clean winter-blend fuel earlier in the year. (He also wants to lower pump prices by exempting transportation fuels from the state’s cap-and-trade program, and import different gas blends from out of state, but Democrats, Republicans say, plan to “strip out” those parts of the bill.)

Bills approved by the committee will go to the full Assembly on Oct. 1. The state Senate plans to convene on Oct. 11, Politico reports. 

Newsom teed up today’s hearing by holding a signing event Wednesday for three other measures targeting the oil and gas industry that passed the Legislature earlier this year. Speaking nearby an old oil field in Inglewood, the governor did not mince his words against Big Oil.

Newsom: “They are the polluted heart of this climate crisis. They’ve been lying and deceiving us for decades and decades and decades. It’s finally, finally time to hold Big Oil accountable.”

The bills signed by Newsom grant local governments more power to limit where oil and gas projects can be built; ramp up the closing of idle wells; and shut down low-producing wells at the Inglewood oil field, explains CalMatters climate reporter Alejandro Lazo.

But oil companies remain a powerful player. The Legislature passed a bill extending a deadline to monitor oil wells by three years, after the industry pulled a referendum on the Nov. 5 ballot to overturn a ban on drilling near homes and schools.

The head of the Western States Petroleum Association also accused Newsom of “demonizing” the industry and called his press conference “more political theater.”

Catherine Reheis-Boyd, in a statement: “The truth is we prioritize community and worker safety too. Gov. Newsom must rethink his own proposal on refinery maintenance that threatens refinery workers and communities.”

Still, Newsom’s beef with Big Oil continues with today’s hearing, and his remarks Wednesday suggest he remains defiant, if not optimistic: “We’re about the fresh air of progress, versus the stale air of normalcy.”

This week, we launched the latest feature to our award-winning Voter Guide: A tool that lets you look up nearly every race up and down your November ballot. 

You can type in your address and get the list of races you’ll be deciding (except for school and special district elections). From that list, you can go to our full Voter Guide information on the U.S. Senate, U.S. House, state Legislature and the 10 ballot propositions, and also see the candidates for county supervisor and city council, plus information on local ballot measures. The CalMatters data team collected nearly 1,000 races and more than 700 measures.

Take it for a spin here.

The local lookup tool is just the latest way to get election information from CalMatters. We’re hosting a series of public events across California. The next one is Monday in San Fernando, co-hosted by the San Fernando Valley Sun. Sign up here, and find out more from strategic partnerships manager Dan Hu. 

We’ve added ways to access the Voter Guide, both in print and online, and to learn about the propositions on TikTok and Instagram. Find out more from our engagement team. And keep up with CalMatters coverage by signing up for 2024 election emails. 

Hear from gubernatorial candidates: We don’t get our ballots for the November election until early October. But that isn’t stopping candidates running for governor in 2026 from sparring in their first forum.

Four Democrats already in the race to succeed Gov. Newsom plan to be there: state Sen. Toni Atkins, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and former state Controller Betty Yee. Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is a no-show.

Hosted by the National Union of Healthcare Workers and the Los Angeles Times, the 90-minute event is scheduled for 10 a.m. Sunday in San Francisco. If you want to watch, both the union and the Times plan livestreams.

From CalMatters K-12 education reporter Carolyn Jones:

After a San Diego charter school network defrauded the state by more than $400 million, a task force led by state Controller Malia Cohen on Wednesday released stricter audit guidelines for all California schools.

The guidelines stem from a court order issued last year requiring a dozen state agencies and professional education organizations to form the task force to look into the issue. The goal is for the state Department of Education, county offices of education, charter school authorizers and other auditing agencies to take a tougher stance on school finances, enrollment and other aspects of school recordkeeping.

Cohen, in a statement: “As we go forward, the recommendations will provide a critical road map for ensuring trust, accountability, and transparency in the fiscal and audit functions and operations of our entire K-12 public school system.” 

The California Charter Schools Association, which was part of the task force, said it was pleased with the guidelines, but wants to ensure the new standards apply to all aspects of the education system, not just charter schools. 

The guidelines are “a good starting point,” according to the association, which said it looks forward “to engaging in even deeper conversations about the implementation of many of these recommendations.”

The Academic Arts and Action Education, a network of 19 charter schools, was linked to the largest fraud case in California’s three-decade history of charter schools. Eleven network employees were prosecuted for collecting state money for students who never attended. Jason Schrock and Sean McManus, who led the operation, were both convicted and ordered to repay the money, plus fines of $18.75 million each. Most of the money has been recovered.