New Gas Tax and Vehicle Fees: No Foolin'

It is no April Fools Day trick that Gov. Brown wants to raise another $52 billion from Californians to fix what should have been getting fixed all along--roads.  The Comicle notes

The state’s gas excise tax, currently 18 cents, would increase by 12 cents per gallon to 30 cents. Electric and hybrid-vehicle drivers, meanwhile, would pay a new $100-per-year fee beginning in 2020.

The Institute of Governmental Studies poll in 2015 found Californians strongly opposed (74 percent) to increasing vehicle registration fees. They also opposed (63 percent) raising the gas tax. Those voters disapproved of the increases even when told they would fund road repairs.

One guy who used to be in Sac gets it

And, says former Rep. Doug Ose, the state should prioritize fixing its roads instead of spending billions on the high-speed rail project championed by Brown.

It's as obvious as can be.  Also obvious is that quick fixes do not work.  Here is a photo of Caltrans quick-fixing potholes on El Camino in B'game during one of the big storms.  They are basically dumping asphalt into the hole and banging it down with shovels.  Lasted about two days.

Comments

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Vulgar post deleted.

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Sorry..

[hillsider]

About time.

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Oh Hillsider....
You Rascal.

[Joe]

A bit of insight from the California Policy Center and the Bee:

The governor noted that, yes, roads cost money and compared it to ignoring a leaky roof on one’s house – it gets worse if you ignore it. True, but Brown does the same dance each year. He introduces a budget that dramatically underfunds transportation, then holds it hostage to a tax hike. He continues to raise salaries for public employees, which also raises those pension contributions, but he won’t deal with roads and bridges without a tax. And he won’t deal with pension costs and other major problems that would free up money for roads.

And he won’t reform the way Caltrans currently is spending its money. The Legislative Analyst’s Office in 2014 noted that Caltrans is “overstaffed by about 3,500 full-time equivalents beginning in 2014-15 at a cost of more than $500 million.” The Sacramento Bee’s Dan Walters put it more directly when he referred to union “featherbedding” at the agency.

[Joe]

Today's news has the payback for responsible voting:

Sen. Steve Glazer, the East Bay Democrat who broke from his party last month to vote against increased transportation taxes — which narrowly passed by a two-thirds vote — is now paying the price.

He announced on Twitter Friday afternoon that he had agreed to resign his post as chairman of the Senate Governmental Organization Committee, effective immediately, as requested by Senate leader Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles.

After the bill passed without Glazer’s support, the senator released a statement saying his constituents were against a tax increase and that he felt the measure should have provided better spending priorities and more assurances to taxpayers that the money would be well spent.

“My constituents have told me loud and clear that they want any new taxes to be spent more wisely and effectively,” he wrote. “For instance, it doesn’t make sense to spend billions of dollars on an unpopular High Speed Rail system that backers claim might be completed by 2029 when it could go for transportation improvements today.”