Governor Jerry Brown Proposes Gas Tax Hike to Fix California Roads

Sacramento, California

Long Beach residents may be seeing another tax hike, but this time at the gas pumps.

The Democratically controlled California Legislature is proposing to raise 52 billion dollars through a ten year plan that would lift the gasoline excise tax by 12 cents a gallon.  In addition to a gasoline excise tax, Californians would also be paying higher registration fees and, individuals who own vehicles that are emission free would be charged a $100 fee.  If this proposal passes, it would mark the largest gas tax hike in California history.

This proposal comes as Long Beach residents are already seeing higher sales tax locally due to voter approved Measures A and B which lifted sales tax to 9.25% on January 1, 2017 and to 10.25% by July 1, 2017.

“California has a massive backlog of broken infrastructure that has been neglected far too long,” said Governor Brown. “Fixing the roads will not get cheaper by waiting – or ignoring the problem. This is a smart plan that will improve the quality of life in California.”

In a joint statement Republican lawmakers said , “Californians already pay some of the highest gas taxes in the nation,” and said the proposal is a “costly and burdensome plan that forces ordinary Californians to bail out Sacramento for years of neglecting our roads.”

California lawmakers are expected to vote on this measure by April 6th.