Gas tax, vehicle fee hike for roads passes California Legislature

Senate Bill one now goes to Gov. Jerry Brown

Senate Bill one now goes to Gov. Jerry Brown

Senate Bill one now goes to Gov. Jerry Brown

The California Assembly and Senate approved a $5-billion-a-year plan to boost California’s gas and vehicle taxes to pay for major road repairs, sending the proposal to Gov. Jerry Brown — who is expected to sign the bill.

The Assembly voted fifty four to twenty six just before Ten:40 p.m. Thursday. The Senate passed the bill earlier in the night, voting twenty seven to 11.

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The Assembly began debating the plan a brief time after the Senate approved the bill.

The proposal aims to address a $59 billion backlog in deferred maintenance on state highways and $78 billion on local streets and roads. It’s projected to raise $52.Four billion over ten years, much of it to fix potholes and repair bridges but some for public transit and biking and walking trails.

It would raise gas taxes by twelve cents a gallon – a forty three percent increase – and diesel taxes from sixteen cents per gallon to thirty six cents. Diesel sales taxes would also rise.

Drivers would also face a fresh annual fee to be paid with their vehicle registration, ranging from $25 to $175 depending on the value of their vehicle. The taxes and fees would rise each year with inflation.

Brown and top legislative leaders pressed all week to coax fellow Democrats to support the measure in the face of opposition from environmentalists and anti-tax crusaders.

“You know how bad our roads are, and the conditions have been made worse by our latest winter weather,” said Sen. Jim Beall, a San Jose Democrat who worked on the bill for two years.

To win support from truckers, who face a big increase in taxes, Brown and legislative leaders agreed to restrict future regulations on greenhouse gas emissions related to commercial trucks. The switch angered environmentalists, who worry it could impede regulations that indirectly affect truckers, such as limitations on emissions at ports, warehouses, railyards and airports.

Republicans blasted the plan to ask for more money from taxpayers in a state that already has a high tax cargo. Some questioned why the state would raise taxes to repair its existing infrastructure without adding more lanes of traffic as the population swells.

“We aren’t taxing champagne and caviar here,” said Sen. Ted Gaines, a Republican from El Dorado Hills outside Sacramento. “Transportation is a basic need to live and work and raise a family.”

Republicans say the state can fund road repairs with existing funds – an idea Democrats reject, contending it would require cuts to education and social services.

The evening votes in the Senate and Assembly capped a week of cajoling and arm-twisting by Brown and top legislative leaders. Contractors and construction unions blanketed television, radio and social media with $1 million of ads promoting the plan and targeting undecided lawmakers.

Brown held rallies in the districts of targeted legislators and made unusual appearances before two legislative committees.

Sen. Anthony Cannella of Ceres was the only Republican to support the tax hike. Democratic Sen. Steve Glazer of Orinda was the only Democrat opposed.

“My constituents have told me noisy and clear that they want any fresh taxes to be spent more wisely and effectively,” Glazer said in a statement. He lobbied unsuccessfully for a provision that would ban strikes by Bay Area Rapid Transit workers.

Cannella said he voted for the bill after Brown and Democratic leaders agreed to spend $400 million to extend a commuter train from San Jose to his Central Valley district and $100 million to build a parkway linking the University of California, Merced to Highway 99.

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