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California voters have spoken: Keep the gas tax, continue transportation projects and make our roads and bridges safer.
In a poll from Sept. 26, the Public Policy Institute of California found that when likely voters read the Prop. 6 ballot title and label, 52 percent would vote “no” and 39 percent would vote “yes”, with 8 percent of likely voters remaining undecided.
Prop. 6 aimed at repealing a 2017 gas tax and vehicle fees, the revenue of which mainly went to highway and road maintenance, as well as transit programs. Had the proposition passed, state revenues would have been reduced by $5.1 billion and projects that were already underway thanks to revenue from the taxes and fees would have likely languished.
The proposition also added that future gas taxes should go through electorate voters. However, this added requirement would have resulted in lower revenues from such taxes than otherwise would have been available.
Among those who opposed repealing the gas tax were California Professional Firefighters President Brain K. Rice, American Society of Civil Engineers Region Director Kwame Agyare, and California League of United Latin American Citizens State Director Yvonne Gonzalez Duncan.