Free Republic

As gasoline prices topped $3 a gallon, Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Santa Ana, proposed a state constitutional amendment to allow regulatory control of pump prices. "Price caps aren't a solution to a dysfunctional market," said Dunn, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who plans to hold hearings later this fall on California's fuel costs. "However, they are a damage- control measure until solutions are developed." His bill, SCA18, would give the state Public Utilities Commission authority to regulate gasoline prices. Hawaii, which has the nation's highest fuel prices, began capping wholesale gasoline prices Thursday. On Friday, Attorney General Bill Lockyer, a...