The majority leader of the California State Assembly spoke Wednesday in a meeting open to the public at California State University, Fresno.

Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, D-Fremont, is the author of the recently debated Assembly Bill 656. He is making the rounds to colleges in California to drum up support for his bill. Fresno State is the 10th college campus he has visited in the past two weeks.

Torrico said he wants to gather 100,000 signatures to take to Sacramento to show support for the bill.

Assembly Bill 656 would tax oil companies that extract oil from the state. Torrico said that the bill would specifically prohibit oil companies from passing that cost onto consumers.

“Not only does it prohibit it in the bill, the bill sets up a commission,” Torrico said. “For the first time in California, we’re going to oversee the ongoing operations of oil companies.”

Torrico said California is an anomaly among oil-producing states. He said that a similar bill in Texas raises $400 million per year that funds higher education. He also said that Alaska has a 25 percent tax on companies that extract oil from the state.

“In California, we’re going to join the rest of the country and we’re going to charge the oil companies for the oil that they take out,” Torrico said. “My bill, AB 656, will charge a 12.5 percent fee.”

He said that the tax would raise $1.25 billion per year. The money would not go to the state’s general fund, but to fund higher education, Torrico said.

President John D. Welty was unable to attend Torrico’s presentation, because he was in Long Beach at a board of trustees meeting. However, he sent questions to be asked on his behalf during the open forum portion of the presentation.

Welty asked how the measure would guarantee ongoing support for the California State University system?

“The bill specifically says that the $1.25 billion is supplemental funding. It is not to be used to replace existing general funds,” Torrico said.

He also said that he would like to engage in a discussion with Welty and would do so if students would organize it.

Wednesday’s presentation was organized and planned by Students for Quality Education (SQE). Whitney Thompson, a facilitator for SQE, said that her group fully supports AB 656. She said the current system has little transparency, and the money disappears into the auxiliary fund.

“We don’t know where that money goes,” Thompson said.

She said that AB 656 is very similar to the program in Texas.

English professor Lisa Weston, Ph.D., and president of the local chapter of the California Faculty Association (CFA), was pleased with the turnout and the information shared.

“I think it was a nice mix of students who were very committed, who already knew what was going on, and students who were here collecting information,” she said. “As always, it’s really nice to see students involved.”