Posted on 04/08/2017 7:41:30 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The state Legislature narrowly approved a plan to increase gas taxes and vehicle fees late Thursday, a move expected to raise tens of billions of dollars over the next decade to repair the state’s worn and aging transportation infrastructure.
Senate Bill 1, also known as the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, raises the gas excise tax by 12 cents a gallon, with annual adjustments for inflation. Diesel excise taxes are going up 20 cents, while the diesel sales tax will rise from 1.75 to 5.75 percent.
Also, a new fee will be charged to vehicles based on their worth. And a $100-a-year fee is coming for zero-emission vehicles.
Combined, the new taxes and fees are projected to raise $52.4 billion over 10 years for road repairs and other transportation projects.
Under the bill, counties across California are set to receive an additional 104 percent in funding per year. For Los Angeles County, that means a total of $1.54 billion over 10 years. Individual cities are set to receive an additional 107 percent for street and road investments each year.
In Los Angeles, that means a total of $905 million over 10 years, whereas a suburban city like Pasadena can expect $32.5 million over 10 years.
Public transit agencies are also set to receive increased funding as a result of the bill. For instance, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is set to receive $438.7 million over the next decade, and Metro’s Southern California Regional Rail Authority will receive $80 million in that same time.
California Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, said the bill will allow the state to close transportation funding shortfalls without burdening future generations with debt.
“These investments will create good-paying jobs, improve traffic safety and expand public transit access in communities across the state,” De Leon said in a statement.
Assemblyman Chris Holden, D-Pasadena, said the funds will help municipal organizations to make road safety improvements, fill potholes and repair local streets, freeways, bridges and overpasses.
“For decades, transportation in California has been getting worse and the funds to fix it having been drying up,” Holden said in a statement. “This compromise solution will save consumers in the long run and avoids borrowing funds that may result in cuts to schools, health, and public safety.”
Legislators haggled over the bill for the last week. The state Senate voted 27-11 t and the Assembly voted 54-26 to approve the bill Thursday. Both vote totals represent the minimum number of votes required to pass tax increases.
“Today, we made steps toward solving a crisis that affects every community in California,” said Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Paramount, in a statement Thursday night. “Our roads and bridges are in bad shape. They waste our constituents’ time and money and put them in harm’s way.”
Assembly Democrats nearly did not have enough votes to approve the bill until a deal was struck with two Riverside Democrats, Sen. Richard Roth and Assemblywoman Sabrina Cervantes, to secure their ‘yes’ votes in exchange for $427 million in a budget trailer bill for transportation projects in their districts.
Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, the only Senate Democrat to vote against the bill, and Assemblyman Rudy Salas, D-Bakersfield, was the lone Assembly Democrat who voted against it.
Gov. Jerry Brown — who threw his full political force behind the package — began by saying he was glad to be a Democrat.
“The Democratic Party is the party of doing things,” he said. “And tonight we did something to fix the roads in California.”
Brown also said SB 1 was critical for public safety and the economy and that it would create tens of thousands of jobs.
The bill had faced stiff resistance from Republicans who said more taxes aren’t needed, noting that Californians already pay more for fuel than residents of other states.
“It hurts the poor. It hurts the middle class. It hurts small business owners,” state Sen. Jeff Stone, R-Temecula, wrote in an op-ed submitted to he Riverside Press-Enterprise. “It hurts those Californians, especially in Inland and rural areas, who often must drive long distances to get to their jobs.”
They can't say it but they are going to blow the majority of these road taxes on trains again. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders lists an obsession with trains as an extremely accurate marker of libtardism.
Thanks. I was not aware of this. I bet PG&E does the same.
We live an area that is loaded with Piuses and Talons.
Our electrical rates as usual are up versus last year without an electrical powered car.
A co worker leases an electric car (Orange County). Not only did she get $8,000 off her Fed/State income taxes, but her electricity is subsidized too. She charges the car at home, and her Edison bill is about 20% less than in previous years !
36 posted on 4/8/2017, 10:52:28 AM by jttpwalsh
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To: jttpwalsh
Soooo—OTHER taxpayers are subsidizing her car & it’s operating costs.
I don’t like that kind of wealth distribution, either.
“”he was glad to be a Democrat.””
What a sleaze bag>>>>>>> How long did it take him to ask the entire country for $$$ to bail him out of the Oroville Dam problem? No mistake - that is OUR money. Sure wish we had the choice of saying where it goes. They mismanaged what they had for improvements to the state’s dam projects. I would have told him to go pound sand.
Can’t find the actual figure but there is this which is interesting:
https://www.masterresource.org/water-policy/trump-not-fund-oroville-dam-fix/
Soooo—OTHER taxpayers are subsidizing her car & it’s operating costs.
I don’t like that kind of wealth distribution, either.
I think it is statewide, I doubt SCE is in this, by itself. I am generally against electric vehicles, but she has such a sweet deal with all the incentives, that, as an individual, I can’t fault her for having one. Round trip 10 mile daily commute, she put five grand down, got eight grand back on income taxes, and her electric bill went down.
Her husband has a conventional car, so it is not a bad setup. Her lease is up, next year, I am curious to see how she proceeds, from that point.
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PG&E Launches $500 Rebate for Electric Vehicle Drivers
Until Californians start focusing on a detail cost analysis of what a sanctuary state is costing them and start raising hell they don’t deserve any sympathy.
A favorite tactic by collectivist governors parading as democrats is Road fund diversion because it’s a steady revenue stream , They’re easily diverted and go into social programs.
Usually when sanctuary cities are discussed those city gasoline taxes also get raided because of that steady revenue stream as well. But it’s never brought out usually the focus is on school expenses In this case California,states( their state senate just passed making California one)
Californians have no idea what those open borders policies are really costing them . There was a recent study about school expenses and what it’s costing Texans; 12 $ Billion. But that’s just education. I’ll bet it’s twice that in CA.
Until Californians start focusing on a detail cost analysis of what a sanctuary state is costing them and start raising hell they don’t deserve any sympathy.
A favorite tactic by collectivist governors parading as democrats is Road fund diversion because it’s a steady revenue stream , They’re easily diverted and go into social programs.
Usually when sanctuary cities are discussed those city gasoline taxes also get raided because of that steady revenue stream as well. But it’s never brought out usually the focus is on school expenses In this case California,states( their state senate just passed making California one)
Californians have no idea what those open borders policies are really costing them . There was a recent study about school expenses and what it’s costing Texans; 12 $ Billion. But that’s just education. I’ll bet it’s twice that in CA.
Brown is just to easy on the Californians he should have least went for $.25 to make it worth their while. $.12 will not amount to anything once the politician steal the lion’s share of it.
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