On Dec. 5, California Assemblyman Jim Frazier (D – Oakley) introduced a new bill that offers a plan to repair the state’s crumbling transportation infrastructure, East County Today reports.
AB1 would raise an additional $6 billion in annual funding to repair state and local roads, improve trade corridors and support public transit, and will also include measures for accountability and the streamlining of projects.
“My commitment to passing a comprehensive funding plan that addresses California’s failing transportation system will not waiver,” stated Assemblyman Frazier in a press release. “This proposal dedicates billions to road and highway repairs that our state so desperately needs while also creating tens of thousands of good paying jobs.”
“The transportation crisis in California affects each and every part of our state,” Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) said in the press release. “If we don’t step up and solve it, our economy will decline and the people we represent will suffer. Transportation funding has traditionally been a bipartisan issue and our goal is to work across the aisle to come to a comprehensive solution.”
“We have been working closely with Assemblyman Frazier for more than two years on a variety of concepts to provide the resources local governments need to fix our roads and bridges,” said Kiana Valentine, Legislative Advocate for the California State Association of Counties, in the press release. “It’s no secret that our vital infrastructure is crumbling and we’re at a tipping point. We urge the Governor and Legislative Leadership to keep their promise to advance this vital legislation early in the 2017 session.”
Some of the highlights of the proposed AB1 bill include the following:
- The creation of the Office of the Transportation Inspector General with a term of six years;
- An increase of $0.012 per gallon in the gasoline tax, with an inflation adjustment;
- An increase of $38 in the vehicle registration fee every year, with an inflation adjustment;
- A new $165 annual vehicle registration fee for zero-emission vehicles, with an inflation adjustment; and
- A $0.20 per gallon increase in the diesel fuel excise tax.
Kerry Clines | December 12, 2016