BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1910
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Date of Hearing: April 18, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Jim Frazier, Chair
AB 1910
(Harper) - As Introduced February 11, 2016
SUBJECT: Transportation: advisory question: election
SUMMARY: Enacts the "Fix Our Roads Act" and places an advisory
question related to transportation funding on the November 8,
2016, general election ballot. Specifically, this bill:
1)Makes legislative findings and declarations regarding:
a) The multi-billion dollar annual shortfall in
transportation funding;
b) The state of the State's highway condition and
performance;
c) The costly impacts of traffic congestion;
d) California's gas tax rate and vehicle rates compared to
other states and the impact that those taxes and fees have
on low- and moderate-income working families;
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e) The use of truck weight fees to provide General Fund
debt relief;
f) The cost of California's high-speed rail project;
g) The application, or lack thereof, of gas taxes and other
vehicle fees on electric vehicles; and,
h) The Governor's transportation funding proposal.
2)Directs the Secretary of State, notwithstanding specific
provisions governing election procedures, to submit the
following advisory question to the voters at the November 8,
2016, election:
"Shall the California Legislature disproportionately target
low-income and middle class families with a regressive tax
increase on gasoline and annual vehicle registrations to fund
road maintenance and rehabilitation, rather than ending the
diversion of existing transportation tax revenues for
non-transportation purposes, investing surplus state revenue
in transportation infrastructure, repaying funds borrowed from
transportation accounts, prioritizing roads over high-speed
rail, and eliminating waste at the Department of
Transportation?"
EXISTING LAW:
1)Explicitly authorizes cities, counties, school districts,
community college districts, county boards of education, and
special districts to place advisory questions on the ballot.
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2)Does not explicitly authorize nor prohibit statewide advisory
questions.
3)Imposes state taxes and fees related to transportation,
including:
a) Gasoline excise tax: $0.30/gallon;
b) Diesel excise tax: $0.13/gallon;
c) Diesel sales tax: 9.25%;
d) Vehicle license fee: 0.65% of a vehicle's market value;
e) Vehicle registration fee: $43 per vehicle; and
f) Weight fees, for commercial vehicles only, up to a
maximum amount of $2,064.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS: The state is in the midst of a transportation funding
crisis. In fact, last year Governor Brown proclaimed the need
for an extraordinary session of the Legislature to address the
maintenance and repair of its core transportation
infrastructure. Although numerous related proposals have been
put forward, a comprehensive solution to the funding crisis
remains elusive. According to the author, the purpose of AB
1910 is to ask for guidance from voters on solving this funding
crisis.
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Committee concerns: The bill raises two policy questions:
1)Is it appropriate to place advisory questions on the statewide
ballot?
2)If yes, is the question posed in AB 1910 an appropriate
question?
The issue about whether or not it is appropriate to place an
advisory question on the ballot will undoubtedly be more fully
discussed in the Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee,
which is where this bill will be referred if it is successful in
this committee. While existing state law explicitly authorizes
cities, counties, school districts, community college districts,
county boards of education, and special districts to place
advisory questions on the ballot, there is no explicit
authorization, nor a statutory prohibition, for statewide
advisory questions. Statewide advisory questions are uncommon.
Setting aside for purposes of this committee, however, the
discussion regarding whether it is appropriate to place an
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advisory question on the statewide ballot, assuming the proposed
question is placed on the ballot, would the results be
meaningful? Probably not. Consider again the specific
question:
"Shall the California Legislature disproportionately target
low-income and middle class families with a regressive tax
increase on gasoline and annual vehicle registrations to fund
road maintenance and rehabilitation, rather than ending the
diversion of existing transportation tax revenues for
nontransportation purposes, investing surplus state revenue in
transportation infrastructure, repaying funds borrowed from
transportation accounts, prioritizing roads over high-speed
rail, and eliminating waste at the Department of
Transportation?"
The question is an either/or question: Should we raise taxes
and fees or take five other specific measures to raise funds for
transportation? The answer to addressing the transportation
funding crisis, however, is not as straightforward as the
question suggests.
As AB 1910 correctly identifies in the legislative findings and
declarations, the Governor cited a $5.7 billion annual shortfall
in funding state highway maintenance and rehabilitation and a
$7.8 billion annual shortfall for maintaining local streets and
roads. Unfortunately, neither one of the two options posed in
the proposed question is likely to generate sufficient funds to
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adequately address this level of need. Of the several funding
proposals currently pending in one form or another before the
Legislature, only the proposals that include both an increase in
gas taxes and vehicle fees and the other measures, such as
returning borrowed funds to transportation, come close to
addressing the level of need sufficiently.
If the Legislature decides that putting an advisory question on
the ballot is a good idea, the question posed to the voters
should have a high likelihood of rendering a useful answer. The
question posed in AB 1910 does not seem to meet that threshold.
Double-referral: This bill will be referred to the Assembly
Elections and Redistricting Committee should it pass out of this
committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
None on file
Opposition
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None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093