Calif.’s shoddy roads won’t get fixed any time soon
By Liam Dillon, Los Angeles Times
Over the last few months, Gov. Jerry Brown and legislators have reached major deals to increase taxes on healthcare plans and boost the state’s minimum wage. But as Brown prepares to release his revised budget on Friday, one big issue appears to be far from a resolution: California’s shoddy roads.
Brown, Assemblyman Jim Frazier, D-Oakley, and state Sen. James Beall Jr., D-San Jose, have all pitched plans to chip away at the more than $130-billion backlog in state and local road repairs, plus the billions more in annual transportation budget deficits. The plans emerged after Brown called a special session last summer to focus legislators’ attention on the dire problem.
All three proposals rely on hiking up the state’s beleaguered gas and diesel taxes along with levying new annual fees on car owners. These revenue increases require the support of two-thirds of the Legislature, including the backing of traditionally tax-averse GOP lawmakers.