Gas prices are displayed at a Shell gas station in South San Francisco on Monday, Oct. 3, 2022. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)
In a bid to tamp down the Golden State’s highest-in-the-nation gas prices, California lawmakers on Monday passed legislation to set up the country’s first watchdog body tasked with investigating the oil industry.
The bill, SBX 1-2, which passed the State Assembly in a 52-19 vote on Monday, is the culmination of a bitter battle between Gov. Gavin Newsom and some of the country’s largest oil companies after the state saw gas prices topping $6.40 a gallon twice last year. After a