SACRAMENTO—Amid soaring gas prices, lawmakers announced a $400 gas rebate for all state taxpayers. “Soaring gas prices are hitting Californians at the pump,” Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris said on March 17 at the steps of the state capital. “We know our constituents are hurting right now.” The $400 rebate is equivalent to a one-year gas holiday that for most cars provides 52 trips to the pump, Petrie-Norris said. The funding to cover the cost of the rebate will come from the state’s budget surplus. Petrie-Norris announced the proposal alongside Assemblymembers Cecilia Aguiar Curry, Jesse Gabriel, Adam Gray, Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, Jacqui Irwin, Evan Low, Blanca Rubio, Chad Mayes, Carlos Villapudua, and Sharon Quirk-Silva. The lawmakers attributed the spike in gas prices to the war between Russia and Ukraine. While Gray praised the proposal, he insisted that the rebate was just the first step toward the solution. Quirk-Silva applauded the effort to pay …