Alejandro Torres fills up at a gas station in Oakland on March 13. Prices have spiked since the war with Iran began, prompting calls to suspend or eliminate the state’s gas tax.

Gas prices in California have never been higher — on average, nearly $6 a gallon this week. We’re not experiencing the extreme shortages, nationwide gas station queues and panic buying seen in the 1970s — yet. But with no end to the war with Iran in sight, who knows how bad things will get.

In response, most of the state’s gubernatorial candidates, Republican and Democrat, are talking about ways to bring prices down.

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Matt Mahan has said he wants a temporary cessation of the state gas tax. Tom Steyer has proposed a “windfall profit tax” on oil companies to give direct rebate money to Californians. Since at least 2018, Katie Porter has proposed moving away from the tax, replacing it with general fund revenues to fund infrastructure. Republican Steve Hilton, who believes that “California Democrats have prioritized ‘climate’ ideology over affordability,” promises to deliver gas to consumers at $3 a gallon.

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California’s gas tax is among the nation’s highest at over 60 cents per gallon. Many argue it is a regressive tax, one that only exacerbates high gas prices and hits those who can least afford it. 

Many urbanists like me have long supported the gas tax to make drivers pay for the true cost of driving. But gasoline taxes are used to fund highway capacity expansion, which undermines the environmental benefits that come from disincentivization.

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It’s become increasingly clear that the tax has outlived its usefulness.

Suspending and/or eventually getting rid of it would provide........

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