Sen. Jim Beall

BART Train

Competing Funding Strategies Promoted for Bay Area Transit Mega-Measure

Two Bay Area transportation sales tax measures affecting three Bay Area counties performed poorly on Super Tuesday, but it hasn't deterred the groups backing a nine-county mega-measure. Progressive groups are proposing non-sales tax alternatives.

March 9, 2020 - The Mercury News

San Francisco Houses

CA Gov.: Cities Must Meet Housing Goals or State Will Withhold Gas Tax Funds

Newly inaugurated California Gov. Gavin Newsom made waves on Thursday in his budget address, threatening cities and counties with the possibility of losing a portion of their gas tax subventions if they fail to meet their state housing requirements.

January 14, 2019 - Streetsblog California

Homeless

$2 Billion Bond Measure on California Ballot to House the Mentally Ill Homeless

The revenue bonds would be funded from a millionaires' surtax, approved by voters in 2004, to pay for health programs, but not housing, for the mentally ill. Also on ballot: a $4 billion general obligation bond measure to fund housing for veterans.

July 2, 2018 - Los Angeles Times

Gaslamp Quarter

$4.3 Billion Awarded to California Transformative Projects from Gas Tax and Climate Fund

Two difficult votes last year, both requiring super-majorities, are paying huge dividends to 28 transformative projects throughout the Golden State to improve rail and transit service and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

April 30, 2018 - Los Angeles Times

California

Four Interest Groups Contributed to the California Transit-Housing Bill's Defeat

Two journalists discuss what led to the defeat of the SB 827, the controversial bill which garnered national attention and lots of in-state opposition from groups that one would think would support the effort to address the state's housing crisis.

April 24, 2018 - Los Angeles Times

BART Train

Three Transportation Ballot Measures Could Be Headed to Bay Area Voters Next Year

The California Legislature approved bills to allow voters to decide on hiking sales taxes and tolls for regional transportation. Gov. Jerry Brown already signed a bill to allow San Mateo County voters to hike sales taxes for transportation.

September 19, 2017 - The Daily Journal

Jerry Brown

California's Housing Bills Fall Short

Three bills at the top of the Democratic leadership's housing agenda will have little impact on the state's chronic housing shortage according to multiple analyses, and wouldn't affect the outcome of a Bay Area mega-development controversy.

August 14, 2017 - Los Angeles Times

California

California's Record Fuel Taxes Hike Passes Legislature in One Day

On April 6, the Senate and Assembly passed a comprehensive transportation funding package that it had been unable to do for years, thanks to much deal-making by Gov. Jerry Brown. The gas tax will increase by 12 cents per gallon on November 1.

April 9, 2017 - Planetizen

Gas and Bikes

Gov. Jerry Brown and State Democratic Leaders Agree on Gas Tax Deal

Revised transportation funding legislation is needed to meet California's ballooning infrastructure deficit, but it needs a supermajority to pass, and it contains a fatal flaw for clean air activists.

April 3, 2017 - Streetsblog California

Electric Cars

Electric Vehicle Fees: Where's the Controversy?

Some may find it silly to get worked up over an annual fee of about $100 to pay for road maintenance when electric vehicle purchasers receive a $7,500 federal tax credit, on top of generous state perks, but electric vehicle supporters object to them.

March 9, 2017 - Vox

San Luis Obispo County Leaders Ponder What's Next After Transportation Measure Fails

The November 8 sales tax measure fell 0.37 percent short, but there's new hope from Sacramento with the reintroduction of a gas tax measure. Democrats now hold the bare supermajority in both the Assembly and Senate needed to pass tax increases.

December 28, 2016 - The Tribune

Bay Bridge Toll Traffic

Bad Roads and Bridges Costing California Motorists as Much as $2,800 Annually

The transportation research group, TRIP, tallied costs from additional crashes, higher operating costs, and congestion that result from insufficient investment in California's roads and bridges. A new effort was launched to increase state funding.

August 24, 2016 - tripnet.org

Bakersfield and Fresno Sign

California Road Charge Pilot Launches July 1; Gas Tax Increase Still Needed

Two notable transportation developments occur in California on July 1. First, a pilot road charge program begins—5,000 motorists will be charged by the mile driven. Second, the gas tax drops by 2.2 cents. An analysis by ITEP looks at both.

June 24, 2016 - Tax Justice Blog

California Transportation Funding Bill Stalls in Final Week

Gov. Jerry Brown's intervention to soffen Sen. Jim Beall's transportation funding bill by halving both the gas and diesel tax hikes did not assuage Republican critics of the bill, so Brown is extending the special legislative session past Friday.

September 13, 2015 - The Sacramento Bee

Compromise Transportation Funding Plan Floated by California Gov. Jerry Brown

With five days left in the legislative season, Gov. Jerry Brown halved the fuels tax increases proposed in the Democratic bill as a sweetener to tax-averse Republicans, though they haven't show any willingness to date to compromise.

September 5, 2015 - San Jose Mercury News

California Gas Tax Increase Hits Partisan Impasse

SB 16, Sen. Jim Beall's transportation funding bill that would hike gas taxes by 10 cents, diesel taxes by 12, and increase other fees, is stuck in the Senate, lacking one vote to pass.

July 10, 2015 - The Sacramento Bee

State Gas Tax Changes Effective July 1: Six Up; One Down

Carl Davis, Research Director of the Institute on Tax and Economic Policy (ITEP) writes where gas taxes used to fund transportation infrastructure increased, if only by decimal points, and about the aberration—the six-cent plunge in California.

July 2, 2015 - Tax Justice Blog

Is 2015 the Year California Increases its Gas Tax?

The stars appear to be aligning for a 10-cent gas tax hike, thanks to a $59 billion backlog in bridge and road repairs that has even influenced anti-tax Republicans. It's been 20 years since the gas tax was increased.

May 28, 2015 - San Jose Mercury News

10-Cent Gas Tax Increase Proposed for Road Maintenance in California

SB 16 would also increase the diesel tax (which hasn't been raised in over two decades) by 12-cents, charge electric vehicles a flat $100 annual fee, and increase registration and license fees.

April 20, 2015 - Planetizen

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