Calif. lawmakers grapple with gas tax hike
By Jessica Calefati, Bay Area News Group
SACRAMENTO — Since taking office in 2011, Gov. Jerry Brown has helped to resolve some of California’s toughest fiscal challenges — mainly huge structural deficits and old, forgotten debts.
But this year he appears ready to take on Mission Impossible — getting Democrats and Republicans to agree to increase the state’s gas tax to fix California’s crumbling roads and bridges.
Hiking the gas tax has always been politically risky, especially in a state where cars are still king and that -gave birth to the anti-tax revolution in the late ’70s.
But hell might be about to freeze over: For the first time in decades, even anti-tax Republicans are open to raising prices at the pump to start cutting into the state’s $59 billion backlog of roadway maintenance.
Brown had telegraphed his intention to take up the issue in his January inaugural address when he asked Democrats and Republicans to do the “impossible” and craft an agreement to improve transportation infrastructure.
Sure why not and keep the train!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Doesn’t matter how much they tax the people, it’ll never be enough till they take it all.
Just had an increase in gas tax under the umbrella of the ‘carbon tax’ in January. When will you people stand up and just say no?
Dog. The SBE lowered the Gas Tax 3 cents a gallon last year. Currently Arnold’s carbon fee is running $12 per ton or 10 cents a gallon. Californians pay about 70 cents per gallon in taxes; average nationwide is 50 cents (and growing).
As mentioned in the article, eight GOP controlled states have increased their gas tax in the past three months.
What is more interesting… California gasoline prices peaked in 2012 at $4.70 per gallon when crude oil was about $110 per barrel. Crude oil has fallen 47% since then while the price per gallon of gas has only fallen 22% (adjusting for the carbon fee of 2%).
Moonbutts answer to everything is tax the crap out of us. HE should be derailing is BILLION DOLLAR train to nowhere if he REALLY cared about the people. Come on you old, senile goat….do something good for the tax payers for a change. I challenge you to CARE about the people without your usual agenda.
Moonbutts answer to everything is tax the crap out of us. HE should be derailing is BILLION DOLLAR train to nowhere if he REALLY cared about the people. Come on you old, senile goat….do something good for the tax payers for a change. I challenge you to CARE about the people without your usual agenda.
Kit’s typical name calling and rant is duly noted… NOT!
The fastest trains in Asia and Europe travel at 185mph. Meanwhile, back in the USA our fastest train travels about 75mph.
Prop 1A that passed in 2006 was going to take care of rebuilding CA’s roads for the next 20 years.
Then in ’09 Obama and the Democratic Congress was going to rebuild the whole nation’s infrastructure with the Community Reinvestment Act. Thus giving our state even more tax dollars for our roads.
So based on past promises, a gasoline tax increase, for the purpose of roads (not saying there aren’t other political agendas) shouldn’t be necessary!
Billions wasted on trains to no-where and empty trains in general is liberal insanity as is raising taxes for every solution to a liberal created problem, hint- the tax payers are all leaving, then what? Being senile Jerry isn’t an excuse or will it be when he is charged for fraud or when he is long since dead after his damage? His solutions put tens if not more thousands of taxpayers on the road OUT of this state a month, THAT should be a crime because it is a failed open borders welfare-state that ends in bankruptcy or federal take-over!
Rock: And speed means what, if nobody rides? It is a waste and a tax payers nightmare. Moonbutt should disregard his personal agenda’s and do what is right for the people of Ca. What a concept. I’m sure it is not in his dictionary.
BUYING GAS SUPPORTS TERRORISM. Taxing gas is a great idea. We should be taxing the crap out of obsolete gas powered cars. Cars fueled by gasoline are poisoning our precious planet with fumes that are toxic to all life. In contrast, electric cars, like Tesla, run on solar energy converted to free electricity for the life of your car. If a Tesla is outside your price range, consider buying a new 2015 Nissan LEAF for $29,010. Whatever you do, stop buying gas and stop giving thousands of dollars of your personal income to support Middle East terrorists who want to kill all Americans.
Steve, wake up. 39.1% of this country gets its electrical power from burning coal. Another 19% from nuclear plants. Only 12% from renewable sources. Electric cars are not the answer. Dumping an overly expensive train that no one will ride is a start.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_power_in_the_United_States
Parker. Prop 1A from 2006 was a change in the California Constitution to put limits on using Gas Taxes in the General Fund and I see no mention from various Pro 1A sites about anything related to rebuilding roard for 20 years.
The Community Reinvestment Act was originally passed in 1977. It was modified in 2008 and I see nothing related to transportation.
Kit says “speed means nothing” [in transportation] if nobody rides. Some people like yourself thought the same thing about Air Transportation ages ago.
Imagine if the Internet was still at dial up speeds.
Sorry, Kit but the 14th Century is over.
Realist. Our star, the Sun, produces about 1 Kilowatt of power per square meter of Earth every day. The United States is about 9 trillion square meters in area. The Sun will continue to shine for about another 5 billion years. Coal reserves will be exhausted in about 250 years.
The trick is to continue to increase the efficiency photovoltaic cells and lower our dependency on fossil fuels.
Hey Steve Kubby: Not everyone has $100,000 dollars from money laundering and selling illegal drugs to plunk down on a new Tesla. Not everyone has $29,000 for a Nissan Leaf either. There are people who can barely even afford a used gasoline powered car.
Plus, the infrastructure to support everyone having an electric car is not in place. Where are the charging stations? Battery technology is not advanced enough to replace gasoline. Where is the electricity going to come from? Do you realize that 0.48% of this nation’s power comes from solar? Have you ever looked up the VERY environmentally hazardous chemicals and processes used to manufacture the batteries? It’s no wonder Tesla is putting their new battery plant in Nevada.
Ultimately, yes, we need to get rid of oil, or we’ll run out anyway. Right now, your proposed solution is completely delusional and not technically feasible. In 100 years, when the technology is cheaper and the infrastructure is better, we’ll see.
Oh, and taxing the crap out of gas means taxing the crap out of poor people who can’t afford an electric car. Lower taxes on the rich! Make life hard for poor people who actually work a real job!
Sorry Rock but speed has already dominated us. Moonbutts speed train (his wanted legacy) is ridiculous. It will not work. HE wants to leave some sort of failure (among many) just like O’Bummer wants to leave a failed country as his legacy. Meanwhile the less than American president and his even less American wife still dribble crap out of their mouths about how oppressed they are. Seriously? They went to Ivy League and still didn’t gain the knowledge to admit when they have FAILED. Pathetic!!
DON’T BE FOOLED BY PHONY ARGUMENTS. Tesla supercharging stations are already operating off solar power and you can drive from the West Coast to the East Coast and back for zero dollars, Claiming that this is flawed because poor people can’t participate is a total cop out. Each of us needs to take personal responsibility for ending our addiction to oil and stop supporting folks who want to kill all Americans. As for folks who can’t afford an electric car, does that justify continuing poisoning all life on planet Earth? NO, it does NOT!
BTW, I earn my money as founder and chairman of a publicly traded company that is squeaky clean. My management team includes a former Governor, US Senator, and former LAPD police chief. To suggest otherwise is really slimy and shameful.
Yes Kit, you are pathetic. Thank goodness this is the 21st Century and your opinionated dribble will not change that. The only thing failing is your 14th century mentality. Good luck throwing stones from your glass house.
Hey Steve… I tend to agree with you on your posts to this thread. Good luck.
rock: Enjoy your ever growing taxes. You must have a nice nest egg. You will need it as your leader Moonbutt demands more of it.
Steve: So you’re suggesting that people who can’t afford electric cars just shouldn’t drive? Taxing people who financially cannot make the change to electric is ridiculous. Maybe you should buy them electric cars if you’re so adamant that they change.
Do you realize that excellent solar power is 15-20% efficient? We would need mountains of solar power to run the hundreds more charging stations it would take to make electric cars feasible.
I agree with your opinions about stopping oil usage, but it’s just not possible right now. It will take time before the technology is cheap enough for people to afford, and the infrastructure to support it is in place.
Glad to hear your company is squeaky clean. Previous comments you have made suggest otherwise.
greengrass
wow kit glad to see you do not let facts get in the way of your narrative. let’s see, unemployment is lower in California vs Nevada, economic growth is way better in California vs Nevada.
See the Business Insider article (hardly a liberal rag) While Nevada does not do poorly, 9th, California is ranked #2. Future for California looks quit rosy, so we do not need you, please do us all a favor and stay in Nevada.
Rick
Electric cars like the leaf will need some more development to make it feasable for many people. The leaf only gets between 75 to 120 miles on a charge and takes up to 5 hrs to recharge. This would be fine in tahoe but if someone is driving a distance like LA it would take days to get there. Tesla does much better at a much higher cost 265 miles on a charge with a hour recharge. I am guessing it will take at least 10 years maybe 20 before we see it being a match for many.
It was in the arguments in favor of the initiative.
And if the 2008 stimulus package, $700B worth of spending was an update of a 1977 bill ok. But besides Obama’s statements about the bill, it’s on a bunch of freeway signs, including one on Hwy. 50 in the West Slope, how the the community reinvestment act is rebuilding America’s Infrastructure. $700B ought to be good for something?
$30,000,000 for the new Fanny Bridge bypass (unnecessary, and a mere bridge upgrade would be about $2,000,000). $50,000,000 for a proposed Ferry across the Lake (that will be financially infeasible, burn 2,000 gallons of gas per day, and end up more of a polluting tourist attraction than commuter option). And who knows how many millions for the Loop Road bypass at Stateline. All of these projects are primarily paid for by public TRANSPORTATION funds. These decisions start locally, with the TRPA, Tahoe Transportation District, Counties, Resort Associations, NV-based Tahoe Chamber of Commerce…etc. Maybe, just maybe, we should ask them to stop building more roads and unnecessary transportation projects and spend our money more wisely.
Kit. Wrong again…youre good at this….
nature: You don’t even count.
Rick: Unemployment is down in Ca. (on paper) as more and more have used up their free money and are now not counted. They have dropped out of the work force and are not all seeking employment. Surplus? Of course you have a surplus when you tax everyone over and over, and over.
Then add moonbutts new law that you can no longer refer to “husband or wife”. He wants us to say “spouse”. Where is my barf bucket?! NOW in yet another move to infringe on our right to free speech he is demanding we change so liberals won’t be offended. God, the stupidity never ends. BTW you could use a spelling teacher.
Parker. Ok. So now it is the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009? As you know, the largest part of the ARRA was in Tax Credits of $290 billion. Transportation spending was $39.2 billion.
The ARRA got us out of the Great Recession, it was not a transportation bill.
Kittyars. The only moonbutt is between your ears.
No, the largest part of the bill was the $700B in spending! If only $42B when to transportation? Holy Cow! What a pork barrel bill.
And it did not get us out of anything as Obama himself later acknowledged when he cracked a joke heard on the mic about the lack of shovel ready jobs.
Now as far as raising this tax. Both the State & the Feds have a budget for spending on transportation & roads. They have gotten increases to those budgets throughout the years via a variety of mechanisms. Now they want more. And that money comes from somewhere, working people! How much is ever enough?
If anybody wants to see for themselves, search for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 there are numerous sights that detail the bill.
We spent about $47 billion to rebuild roads and infrastructure in Afghanistan… why not here in America?