SB 16 Fact Sheet: Help stop billions in new gas taxes

Senate Bill 16 would impose 10 – 12 cents a gallon in new gas taxes and increases the car tax $35

California’s gas prices are currently the nation’s highest at nearly $1 above the national average, according to data from GasBuddy. Unfortunately Senate Bill 16 by Senator Jim Beall (D – San Jose) would raise the price of gas even higher. SB 16 is a misguided and unnecessary proposal that should be rejected because:

SB 16 raises gas taxes by 10 cents a gallon, diesel taxes by 12 cents a gallon AND adds an additional $35 annually to the car tax. Altogether SB 16 raises taxes on California motorists $2.8 billion a year.
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) just imposed a new hidden gas tax in January. This tax increase is estimated to have already added 10 – 15 cents a gallon to the price of gas.
Even without counting CARB’s hidden gas tax, California gas taxes are ranked the second highest in the nation by the American Petroleum Institute.
Senator Beall introduced SB 16 through the deceptive “gut and amend” procedure, where politicians place a new proposal in an old bill to bypass legislative deadlines.
SB 16 does nothing to address billions in gas tax money currently being diverted to other purposes other than transportation, totaling $5 billion since 2010. The proposal also fails to address $500 million in reported waste at Caltrans.
With the Legislature projecting over $4 billion in surplus revenue this year, there is no justifiable reason for new gas taxes.

But you can take action now to help stop the gas tax:

SIGN THE PETITION to the Legislature
SIGN UP FOR UPDATES on what you can do to help
WRITE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR to your local newspaper
DOWNLOAD THIS FACT SHEET and share it with others
GET NO ON THE GAS TAX BUMPER STICKERS

High gas prices are already hurting working people and putting jobs in jeopardy. Californians need greater access to affordable fuel, not billions in new gas taxes

LISTEN TO THE COMMERCIAL

This new commercial is running throughout the Sacramento region on AM talk radio in prime drive-time hours. It’s playing every day Monday through Friday during the times when people drive to work and when they come home – when they are most likely to hear it. It’s also no coincidence we are playing it in Sacramento, where the State Capitol is located and where we are most likely to reach key decision-makers in our government.

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