Governor Brown Proposes to Raise Taxes to Fund Transportation

The proposal would provide $3.6 billion annually for transportation and includes a new $65 fee for vehicle owners, an 11-cent increase in the diesel tax and a 6-cent hike to the gas tax.

“The conditions are getting so bad that if Californians don’t commit to prioritizing funding to fix them, we will be facing the failure of a large portion of our bridges, streets and roads”, said Chris McKenzie, executive director of the League of California Cities, in a statement. “It’s nicely previous time for the Legislature to behave”.

As we noted this week, Brown has been largely absent in the debate over his plan to slash gasoline usage by 50 percent by 2030 in the state, while oil and gas interests have spent millions trying to defeat it. The legislation, SB 350, which Brown termed earlier this year as “absolutely necessary” in the fight against climate change, must still pass the Assembly. 2.

Gareth Lacy, a spokesman for the governor, said the administration put forth its plan after consulting with members of both parties as well as business and transportation leaders concerned with the state of California’s roadways.

The Democratic governor called a special session to address funding for the state’s crumbling roads and highways.

Brown’s plan includes concessions sought by Republicans such as requiring regular updates on progress toward highway improvements, streamlined environmental reviews for infrastructure repairs and extending public-private partnerships for construction. “His revised plan does shift some of the cap and trade dollars to fixing our roads – but the vast majority of those dollars are still earmarked for mass transit, including high speed rail”, said Fuller. Additionally they agree the state can not hold counting on a fuel tax that hasn’t been elevated in 20 years and lets hundreds of electrical automotive drivers off the hook for sustaining the roads they drive on.

Some fellow Democrats remained skeptical. Sen.

The Lanterman Coalition, an umbrella group for the community organizations that make up California’s developmental care system, is in Sacramento today urging Brown to make their cause a priority.

Kristin Olsen, R-Riverbank, said that there was no need to boost taxes because the budget has enough money to cover for the repairs.

The new proposal presented on Thursday would direct $400 million of the funding for local governments toward transit programs like buses and trains.