Initiative filed by OC Assemblyman to repeal California gas tax increase

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (FOX 11 / CNS) - An initiative to repeal the recent gasoline tax and vehicle registration fee increase was filed on Thursday by Assemblyman Travis Allen, R-Huntington Beach.

SB 1, signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown last Friday, increases the gasoline excise tax by 12 cents a gallon, the diesel fuel excise tax 20 cents per gallon, the sales tax on diesel to 5.75 percent, beginning Nov. 1, and
raises the vehicle registration fee on Jan. 1.

The increases will pay to repair roads, highways and bridges and improve public transportation, Brown said.

Republicans in the Legislature had called for transportation taxes and fees to be used for transportation purposes, instead of being sent to the general fund, as the alternative to increasing taxes.

Allen said he was forced to author an initiative because the law could not be overturned by an referendum because it included an urgency clause.

An analysis of the initiative's fiscal impact will be conducted by the Department of Finance and the Legislative Analyst's Office. They have 50 days to prepared the analysis.

The Attorney General's Office will issue an official circulating title and summary to Allen within 15 days following receipt of the fiscal impact report, allowing the initiative's backers to begin gathering signatures.

The initiative will require valid signatures from 365,880 registered voters -- 5 percent of the total votes cast for governor in the 2014 general election -- to qualify for the November 2018 ballot, according to Secretary of
State Alex Padilla.

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