Fixing State Roads With No New Taxes

Sacramento, CA — Senate Republicans introduced two measures that use existing revenues to fix California’s crumbling infrastructure.

Co-author of both bills, Senate Minority Leader Bob Huff, outlined the legislation at Governor Jerry Brown’s special session on transportation infrastructure this week. SCA X1 1 would constitutionally guarantee transportation taxes go only to fund infrastructure repairs and maintenance. SB X1 2 would dedicate cap-and-trade taxes derived from putting gasoline production under the cap to fix roadways.

Huff says, “Drivers are willing to pay their fair share to have quality streets and roads, but the state has a history of using those funds for other purposes. These measures simply reiterate an existing state constitutional mandate that revenues derived from taxes on transportation fuels be spent on our state’s roads, highways and bridges.”

If both bills pass the legislature, Huff says, $3 billion would return to the state’s transportation budget each year, which could “jump-start the state’s effort to repair crumbling bridges, highways and roads, and wouldn’t include any tax increase.”