One way street: with no more options for voters, CA unlikely to turn back the gas tax
Image by Benny Lin
California voters are running on empty. Without input from the electorate, Sacramento changed the rules to increase the state gas tax yearly and siphon much of the money away from infrastructure. The Taxpayer Protection Act would have let voters pump the breaks on any new tax increases—but the state removed it from the ballot. With nowhere else to turn, US Representative Michelle Steel’s OC Register op/ed asks state leadership to suspend the gas tax.
California taxes continue to rain down on families thanks to a state government that thinks they know how to spend your money best. The latest hardship is yet another increase in the state gas tax, which now sits at a highest-in-the-nation 60 cents per gallon as families kick off summer travel.
The increase is part of a years-old scheme to enlarge state government at the expense of taxpayers. After voters took the commonsense step in 2002 of requiring gas taxes to be used for actual transportation needs, liberal Sacramento politicians sidestepped voter wishes and swapped the traditional gasoline tax for a state excise tax on gasoline. They then set up a bureaucratic process to raise this tax annually, with proceeds propping up pet projects rather than solely supporting vital infrastructure.
As Governor, Gavin Newsom now owns this summer gas tax increase – and has the authority to stop it. But even in the face of California’s high state taxes and rampant inflation, he declined to suspend the gas tax hike that took effect on July 1.
Unfortunately, the opportunity for voters to have their say on high taxes in has been silenced by Newsom’s allies in the judicial branch. Governor Newsom and legislative leaders successfully sued to remove the Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act from the ballot this fall, which would have required the Legislature to receive voter approval for any new or higher state tax.
Relief at the pump is essential for Californians, and I will continue fighting harmful state policies which worsen the toll of inflation for my constituents. Out of fairness to working families, Governor Newsom must suspend the state gas tax now.
Read the whole thing here.
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