California’s first “Job Killer” of the year, as determined by the California Chamber of Commerce, is yet another piece of legislation that will make it harder to live in the Golden State.

SBX1-2 introduced by Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) makes good on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s promise to cap refiner profits and penalize oil companies when the state determines they are making too much money.

The CalChamber dubbed it the first “Job Killer” of the 2023-24 legislative session in Sacramento, calling it “effectively a tax on the manufacture of products critical to the daily lives of Californians and employers in the state and would not provide any relief at the pump.”

The result would be less production, higher prices and more expensive imports, said the CalChamber in a letter to Skinner, adding that it would discourage employers — even those beyond the energy sector — from expanding or staying in California.

“It establishes a playbook for state government to arbitrarily determine what a ‘reasonable’ profit it. This is appropriately the role of the market in competitive industries, not government,” according to the letter.

The bill comes as California’s oil industry fights for its life to ensure the 31 million registered private and commercial vehicles in the state make their deliveries, or make it to work, school or soccer practice.

Of course, a growing number of those vehicles are powered by electricity. But do not delude yourself — petroleum will continue to be in high demand in California for years to come. Taxing oil companies will only serve to put an inflationary chokehold on hardworking Californians.

And if you are a business owner, or want to be someday, just imagine if some Sacramento bureaucrat was able to determine how much profit you are allowed to make.

It might make you think twice.