Leaders scramble for votes on California gas tax

“In recent years, Californians have been paying an unjustifiable amount at the pump, and oil companies should be giving some of that back to fix the roads themselves”.

On behalf of Americans for Tax Reform and our supporters across California, I urge you to reject Gov. Jerry Brown joined with Senate and Assembly leaders to try to push the measure across the finish line.

California drivers would pay more to drive in the state under a bill the Senate passed Thursday to raise $52 billion from new taxes and fees to fix roads and bridges.

The bill must pass both houses of the Legislature with a super-majority vote, the first true-test of Democrats’ ability to flex their dominance and work together to approve major policy changes.

FILE – In this February 21, 2017, file photo, the shoulder and one lane of westbound Highway 50 are damaged due to storms near Pollock Pines, Calif. “And California’s roads are in disgusting condition”. The last thing individuals, families, and employers across California need is to have lawmakers in Sacramento pile on with further tax hikes at the state level, especially considering they live in what is already one of the most heavily-taxed jurisdictions in the world. Brown made light of their position.

The Legislature is expected to vote on the proposal as early as Thursday. Jerry Brown’s proposed $5 billion increase in taxes and fees that would fund major road repairs.

But the California Police Chiefs Association representing all of the state’s municipal police forces said the governor’s proposal could turn traditionally small marijuana businesses into much larger ones controlling the entire supply chain from growing operations to retail sales.

To win support from truckers, who would face significantly higher fuel costs, Brown and top lawmakers agreed to prohibit the state from requiring them to retire or retrofit trucks before they’re 13 years old or reach 800,000 miles.

Brown also recommends doing away with a requirement now in the law that says medical marijuana patients must get state ID cards. Vehicles worth $5,000 or less would pay $25 a year while those worth $60,000 or more would pay $175 annually. Some have questioned why the state would raise taxes to fix its existing infrastructure without adding more lanes of traffic as the state’s population swells. Her office confirmed to the Bay Area News Group Wednesday that she was undecided about the bill, without saying why. All Democrats voted for the plan except southern California Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva. The two diesel tax hikes would generate about 20 percent of the $52.4 billion that the package is anticipated to raise over 10 years.

California already has some of the highest gas taxes in the country, but the falling price of gas, increases in fuel efficiency, and the advent of hybrid and electric vehicles has crimped revenues in recent years, contributing to an estimated $135 billion backlog in road and bridge repairs. Diesel sales taxes would also rise.

The Brown Administration’s tax proposal would raise the gas tax by 12 cents a gallon, the diesel tax by 16 cents per gallon and impose a new fee based on the value of a driver’s vehicle.

The police chiefs and other law enforcement agencies supported legislative passage of medical marijuana rules a year ago but opposed Proposition 64, which legalized the recreational use of marijuana after voters approved it in November.

Alongside the governor were Riverside Mayor Rusty Bailey, Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon of Los Angeles, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon of South Gate, Riverside County Supervisors John Tavaglione and Chuck Washington, in addition to leaders from several civic organizations and union shops.

Democratic Assemblyman Jim Frazier, who has been ushering the bill through his chamber, has authored a Constitutional Amendment that would require the plan’s funding to be spent only on transportation.

Mr. Ahle says the governors plan offers no guarantee that the new tax dollars will go towards funding any of the projects that have been used as marketing techniques by Mr.