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Legislation Increasing the Cost of Gasoline

  • AB 3048 (Oropeza), an intent bill that could be amended with some kind of fuel tax proposal.

  • Gas Tax Increase Clears Committee. The Assembly Transportation Committee approved on May 3 legislation imposing an unspecified tax increase on gasoline (AB 3104, Firebaugh). Proceeds are earmarked for an Air Quality Fund. The bill is supported by a coalition of environmentalists. Eight Democrats (Oropeza, Chan, Firebaugh, Liu, Leno, Pavley, Salinas and Simitian) voted for the bill. Three Republicans (Houston, Bates and Mountjoy) voted against it.

  • Gas Tax Increase. AB 2847 (Oropeza), the bill to increase gasoline taxes, was amended April 27 to delete the 5 cents-per-gallon tax increase and add an unspecified tax increase. (Caltaxletter, April 30, 2004)

  • Gas Tax Increase. SB 1614 (Torlakson), the proposal to increase gasoline taxes, was amended April 25 to increase the tax by 5 cents-per-gallon, when the retail price drops below $2 a gallon. (Caltaxletter, April 30, 2004)

  • Senate Transportation Committee Rejects Gasoline Tax Hike as reported in Caltaxletter, April 23, 2004.

  • Another Tax on Gas. AB 3104 (Firebaugh) imposes an unspecified tax on each gallon of motor vehicle fuel imported into California or removed from a refinery for sale. Funds would be used for environmental and air quality purposes. (Caltaxletter, April 2, 2004.)

  • Gas Tax Increase: 10-Cents-Per-Gallon. SB 1614 (Torlakson) increases gasoline and diesel fuel taxes by 10 cents per gallon. The added tax is labeled a fee in the bill. It would go into effect when the average price of gas drops below $2 per gallon. The legislative counsel has ruled that this tax increase can pass by majority vote, rather than the two-thirds vote required by the Constitution. (Caltaxletter, February 27, 2004.)

  • Sales Tax on Gasoline. Ms. Hill recommended that the Legislature and voters repeal Proposition 42, which earmarks the sales tax on gasoline to transportation projects. The measure has been suspended, siphoning away $1 billion a year from transportation to the state’s out-of-balance general fund. The tax could be increased from 18 cents a gallon to 24 cents, and it could be indexed so that periodic increases would be triggered by increases in Californians’ miles driven. She said traffic congestion is costing Californians $4.7 billion a year in time (lost productivity) and fuel costs, and deteriorating highways such as those in San Jose and Los Angeles are adding $700 a year in repairs to the costs of driving in the state. (Caltaxletter, February 20, 2004.)