Californians love their cars but these days they’re feeling more pain at the pump due in part to increased state excise taxes on gasoline.
Drivers in California already pay the highest average for gasoline after Hawaii, and the Golden State has the second-highest gas taxes after Pennsylvania when combining state, local and federal gas taxes, according to GasBuddy.
Last year, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a 12 cent-per-gallon increase in the state’s excise tax on gasoline, bringing the tax to 41.7 cents per gallon, or a 40 percent jump. As of Friday, California motorists were shelling out an average of $3.32 per gallon for gasoline, well above the national average of $2.52, according to AAA.
