In June, Californians can vote Yes on Prop 69 to block Sacramento politicians from spending transportation improvement funds on anything else.
SB 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, ensures an investment of $52.4 billion over the next decade to fix roads, freeways and bridges across the state. The California constitution already earmarks 70 percent of fuel tax revenue and vehicle fees specifically for roads and transit. Now, citizens have say over the other 30 percent with their vote. Prop 69 requires that revenue from the gas tax and Transportation Improvement Fee also be used for transportation-related purposes.
Yes on Prop 69 is vital to infrastructure
California’s roads are some of the worst in the nation. SB 1 raised fuel taxes for the first time in more than two decades. With a 12-cent increase in the gasoline tax and a 20-cent increase in the tax on diesel fuel, the state can finally begin to climb out from a deep pothole of disrepair. More than $5 billion already has been appropriated to a variety of projects. Locking in funds by voting Yes on Prop 69 means those repairs and upgrades can actually happen.
Yes on Prop 69 keeps legislators honest about road funds
It is a sad but true reality: when funds were previously raised for transportation projects, monies were diverted by politicians to the General Fund and then spent elsewhere. This time, a number of accountability and transparency provisions were included in SB 1. This includes Prop 69, which will place the spending requirement in the state constitution.
Promises were made when this gas tax was enacted. This is our money. Citizens who vote Yes on Prop 69 will extend constitutional protections to the remaining 30 percent of new revenues generated by SB 1. All funds go toward transportation projects as legislators said they would.
