California Gas Prices

Good Morning! Here’s what we’re keeping an eye on for May 8:

✔ California State Supreme Court is deciding a case that could overturn key tax increases voted on by taxpayers.

✔ State officials just admitted there’s no price gouging by oil companies, so why is the cost of gas sky-high across the state?

✔ Which California city just sold a downtown building to developers for just $1?

✔  Another Panera Bread scandal but this one has brought lawsuits.

Have a great Wednesday!

Netter News Team

VITAL CASE BEFORE THE STATE SUPREME COURT

The California Supreme Court this morning will hear a case that could put the state tax system in upheaval. We first told you about this pivotal case on Monday where the court will weigh removing a proposition from the ballot before the November election

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

• The justices will need to decide if the “Taxpayer Protection Act”   is a constitutional amendment or a constitutional revision.

• The measure gives voters more power in the process when state and local lawmakers raise taxes and fees.

• Governor Newsom and Democratic lawmakers have filed a lawsuit seeking to remove the measure from the November ballot

THESE TAXES COULD BE OVERTURNED

If the measure doesn’t get thrown out and voters do pass it in November, it would apply retroactively to taxes and fees passed since the start of 2022. Those include:

• 💵 San Francisco’s Empty Homes Tax (the unpopular $38 Million-a-year levy on owners of vacant property to fund affordable housing).

  
  💵The Oakland Zoo parcel tax

• 💵 Santa Monica real estate transfer tax (raises money for homeless and affordable housing projects)

  
  💵The “mansion tax” in Los Angeles

  
  💵Elk Grove 1% sales tax (raises $21 million a year for city services)

  
  💵Taxes on cannabis businesses in Yolo and LA Counties to raise funds for city programs

WHAT’S NEXT

Sponsors of the ballot measure have requested a ruling by June. State law mandates a decision within three months.

POLITICS, ECONOMY, EDUCATION & SCIENCE

CALIFORNIA ENERGY COMMISSION ADMITS NO OIL PRICE GOUGING

Californians just can’t catch a break. We are paying more for gas than anywhere in the nation, nearly $2.00 more a gallon.

Gas prices have surged 55 cents per gallon compared to this time last year.

The increase just comes over a year after Governor Newsom promised to crack down on excessive oil profits. So, what gives? Tuesday in Sacramento, the California Energy Commision’s top officer, Siva Gunda, admitted that the oil companies are NOT price gouging us.

So, if the oil companies are not price gouging… why are our prices so high? That’s the million-dollar question and still no solid answers.

Gunda also admitted that oil companies are reaping record profits from our sky-high gas spikes. Right now, the Energy Commission is deciding whether to impose a limit on oil refinery profits and institute a penalty when they make too much money off California drivers.

New Tax Coming

And just a reminder, the price of gas will go up on July 1st (by about 1.9 cents) as the excise tax will increase to 59.6 cents to keep “up with inflation”.

TEACHER PAY RANKINGS

How Does California rank in teacher pay? According to the NEA, not great, as the average teacher’s pay is not keeping up with inflation. And yes, the salary is not a living wage in expensive California either. One thing we can all agree on, we can and should do better for our educators.

CALIFORNIA PUSHES TO BAN SELF-CHECKOUT LANES

Some democratic state lawmakers are trying to eliminate those popular self-checkout lanes in stores. Senate Bill 1446 mandates that grocery or retail drug stores can only offer self-checkout options if specific conditions are met.

The Conditions:

📌Self-service checkouts are limited to 10 items or fewer per purchase.

📌At least one manned checkout station must be available.

📌Prohibited items for self-checkout include alcohol and tobacco products.

📌One employee cannot oversee two self-checkout lanes concurrently.

📌If monitoring a self-checkout lane, an employee should be relieved of other duties.

Expect a Battle

Democrats and unions support the measure, claiming it will reduce theft. But what they aren’t saying is that will also protect jobs from the growing threat of AI.

Major retailers are not going down without a fight, many say it doesn’t go far enough to curb retail theft. Expect them to oppose the legislation.

WORLD’S FIRST AI-GENERATED MUSIC VIDEO

Speaking of AI….

During the recent WGA and SAG strikes in Hollywood, this is what the artists warned us could happen and now it has come to pass. Take a look at the world’s first major AI-generated music video, courtesy of San Francisco-based Open AI.

The band “Washed Out” created the video by using OpenAI’s text-to-video model, Sora. The music director, with the use of the system’s text prompt, was able to make the video without the use of real-life artists, producers, and production crews. The future is here and as you might imagine, there’s a backlash online.

HOT TAKES

🚨USC SECURITY HIGH: Security is high all around the USC campus as the University kicks off four days of graduation celebrations today. This follows weeks of unrest over anti-Israel protests.

🚨 SIGN OF THE TIMES: A San Diego-based medical tech company announced it’s laying off about half of its workforce. 230 more employees lost their jobs at Cue Health, whose COVID-19 tests were used by most major corporations during the pandemic.

🚨 PANERA BREAD LAWSUITS: A scandal that’s worse than Governor Newsom’s “Panera bread exemption” in California? The restaurant chain is eliminating Charged Lemonade from its menu, after multiple lawsuits.

🚨 DOLLAR SALE: Talk about a steal of a deal, what city council in California approved the sale of a downtown building to an organization for only $1?  

🚨 EXPENSIVE EXERCISE: Equinox seems convinced that $40k is a reasonable amount to spend on a gym membership. So, what do they offer for that eye-watering price? Details here.

GOLDEN STATE GLOW

• 🌴 Oh, Apple! Some say the tech giant went a little overboard in its rollout of the new iPads this week.

• 🌴 While not in California, this story restores our faith in humanity. After an eight-year battle with cancer, Oregon resident Cheng “Charlie” Saephen won a $1.3 Billion lottery jackpot, the eighth largest in U.S. history. Contemplating his time left, he’s decided to share the winnings with two loved ones.

• 🌴 We stumbled upon this on Instagram (like we often do these days)… and the reviews seem like a “must for families”. Imaginarium 360: A dazzling array of lights, mirror rooms, themed photo booths, and fantastical creatures in an immersive experience. And it’s debuting in SoCal this week.

 🗓THIS DAY IN CALI-HISTORY

MAY 8: 

• 1976: On this day in Valencia, the rollercoaster “The New Revolution” opened at Six Flags Mountain. This was the first steel coaster with a vertical loop!

• 1984: The Soviet Union announced it would not participate in the Los Angeles Summer Olympics in retaliation for the American boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics. This was later joined by 14 other countries. Reminder, LA will host the 2028 Summer Olympics.