Hmmmm? I know McClintock was involved in the last reversal. I also know the increase went through - because I had to pay it ($320 instead of $180). So if we didn't vote it out - how did it get changed back to the old rates ...??
The Republicans were able to pressure the Democrats into enacting a
reduction in the Car Tax, to avoid an initiative measure that would have repealed it. At the time the State was flush with money, and the Democrats weren't able to get away with spending
all of the surplus, so this constituted a modest tax cut.
The cities and counties hated the Car Tax cut, even though the Legislature "backfilled" them, because they knew that the moment the State's finances tightened up again that backfill would disappear (just as the State raided local governments and agencies during the 1991 budget crisis).