2018 California Proposition 6

California Proposition 6 was a measure that was submitted to California voters as part of the November 2018 election. The ballot measure proposed a repeal of the Road Repair and Accountability Act (a fuel tax), which is also known as Senate Bill 1 (SB 1). The measure failed with about 57% of the voters against and 43% in favor.[2][3]

Proposition 6

Eliminates Certain Road Repair And Transportation Funding. Requires Certain Fuel Taxes And Vehicle Fees be Approved by the Electorate. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.
Results
Choice
Votes  %
Yes 5,283,222 43.18%
No 6,952,081 56.82%
Valid votes 12,235,303 100.00%
Invalid or blank votes 0 0.00%
Total votes 12,235,303 100.00%
Registered voters/turnout 19,696,371 62.12%
Source: California Secretary of State[1]

Road Repair and Accountability Act

On April 6, 2017, the California State Legislature passed the Road Repair and Accountability Act (RRAA) by a two-thirds margin, raising taxes on gasoline by 12¢ per gallon, taxes on diesel by 20¢ per gallon tax, and it raised annual vehicle registration fees by $25–175.[4] The registration fee increase ranges depending on the vehicle's market value an estimated 86% of vehicles would see an increase of $25 to $50.[5][6]

This bill aims to invest $5.4 billion annually in California's transportation systems.[7] Every county in California is scheduled to receive infrastructure investments from the RRAA.[8] State transportation infrastructure receives roughly half of the funding, with the other half going to local agencies. 17 projects have been completed under the RRAA, with scheduled work on 156 projects at various stages of completion as of September 2018.[9] Some California residents complained about how the tax affects them.[10]

Campaign

The ballot initiative “Repeal the Gas Car Tax” signature drive was led by Carl DeMaio.[11] DeMaio had previously orchestrated the recall of California State Senator Josh Newman because of his vote for SB1.[12] Republican politicians Paul Ryan, Steve Scalise and Kevin McCarthy have contributed money to the repeal campaign.[13] The National Federation of Independent Business has endorsed repealing the gas tax, by supporting Proposition 6.[14] The California Chamber of Commerce went on record in July 2018 opposing Proposition 6.[15] As of November 1, 2018, construction contractors, labor unions, and civic organizations had donated $46,465,916 to the campaign against Proposition 6. The Total amount of reported contributions for Proposition 6 as of November 1, 2018 is $5,078,484.[16]

Supporters gathered more than 940,000 signatures statewide, which exceeded the minimum requirement of 584,000 signatures for the measure to be on the November 2018 voter ballot.[11] If passed by voters, the Proposition 6 ballot initiative would have repealed the gas tax increase, repealed the car registration fee increase, and mandated any future gas tax increase be approved only by voters.[17] The ballot initiative was supported by John H. Cox (Republican candidate for California governor) and opposed by Gavin Newsom (Democratic then-candidate, future California governor) and Jerry Brown (then-current California governor).[17]

Wording dispute

A citizens initiative drive stating "Repeal The Gas Tax" signed by 940,000 voters qualified to be placed on the November 2018 ballot.[18] California Attorney General Becarra twice modified the wording [19] due to a court order. The wording officially on the ballot states:

"Eliminates Recently Enacted Road Repair and Transportation Funding by Repealing Revenues Dedicated For Those Purposes. Requires Any Measure to Enact Certain Vehicle Fuel Taxes and Vehicle Fees Be Submitted to and Approved By the Electorate. Initiative Constitutional Amendment."[16]

Independent ballot reference site Ballotpedia[20] lists out Proposition 6 in detail description as well as both pro and negative consequences:

"A yes vote supports this initiative to: Repeal fuel tax increases and vehicle fees that were enacted in 2017, including the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017 (RRAA) and require voter approval (via ballot propositions) for the California State Legislature to impose, increase, or extend fuel taxes or vehicle fees in the future.

A no vote opposes this initiative, thus: Keeping the fuel tax increases and vehicle fees that were enacted in 2017, including the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017 (RRAA), in place and allowing the state legislature to continue to impose, increase, or extend fuel taxes or vehicle fees through a two-thirds vote of each chamber and without voter approval."

Polling

The polling results below based on which Proposition 6 wording utilized. Some polls taken below are based on citizen signature initiative description "Repeal The Gas Tax" and other polls based on final description on the voter ballot. Reference shows poll using citizen initiative description instead of final wording that appears on the ballot.[21]

Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin
of error
Yes
(Repeal)
No
(Retain)
Undecided
YouGov October 10–24, 2018 2,178 ± 3.1% 34% 47% 19%
Public Policy Institute of California October 18–20, 2018 1,704 ± 3.3% 41% 48% 11%
Thomas Partners Strategies October 18–20, 2018 1,068 ± 3.0% 36% 42% 21%
Emerson College October 17–19, 2018 671 ± 4.1% 49% 31% 20%
SurveyUSA October 12–14, 2018 762 ± 4.9% 58% 29% 15%
Thomas Partners Strategies October 12–14, 2018 1,068 ± 3.0% 35% 36% 29%
Thomas Partners Strategies October 5–7, 2018 1,068 ± 3.5% 29% 42% 30%
Thomas Partners Strategies September 21–23, 2018 1,068 ± 3.5% 47% 28% 25%
Public Policy Institute of California September 9–18, 2018 1,710 ± 3.5% 39% 52% 8%
Thomas Partners Strategies September 14–16, 2018 1,040 ± 3.5% 44% 27% 29%
Thomas Partners Strategies September 7–9, 2018 1,227 ± 3.3% 46% 24% 31%

Results

Proposition 6[2]
Choice Votes %
Yes 5,283,222 43.2%
No 6,952,081 56.8%
Total votes 12,235,303 100%

Results by county

Here are the results by county.[2]

YES NO Total Votes
County # % # % #
Alameda 139,609 24.7% 424,863 75.3% 564,472
Alpine 183 30.3% 420 69.7% 603
Amador 10,423 60.1% 6,928 39.9% 17,351
Butte 41,925 48.2% 45,052 51.8% 86,977
Calaveras 12,689 59.8% 8,518 40.2% 21,207
Colusa 3,506 61.9% 2,161 38.1% 5,667
Contra Costa 140,839 34.5% 267,455 65.5% 408,294
Del Norte 4,248 52.3% 3,878 47.7% 8,126
El Dorado 50,228 57.5% 37,080 42.5% 87,308
Fresno 130,617 52.7% 117,159 47.3% 247,776
Glenn 5,128 62.5% 3,083 37.5% 8,211
Humboldt 17,096 33.2% 34,412 66.8% 51,508
Imperial 15,228 46.6% 17,457 53.4% 32,685
Inyo 3,554 50.3% 3,514 49.7% 7,068
Kern 112,506 56.5% 86,540 43.5% 199,046
Kings 17,626 59.2% 12,147 40.8% 29,773
Lake 9,333 45.3% 11,262 54.7% 20,595
Lassen 5,897 66.3% 2,996 33.7% 8,893
Los Angeles 1,119,062 38.7% 1,773,117 61.3% 2,892,179
Madera 22,779 59.9% 15,229 40.1% 38,008
Marin 28,814 23.0% 96,414 77.0% 125,228
Mariposa 4,488 55.4% 3,610 44.6% 8,098
Mendocino 10,431 32.1% 22,017 67.9% 32,448
Merced 28,027 48.1% 30,266 51.9% 58,293
Modoc 2,169 64.2% 1,212 35.8% 3,381
Mono 1,929 40.6% 2,822 59.4% 4,751
Monterey 40,524 35.5% 73,530 64.5% 114,054
Napa 19,842 36.1% 35,170 63.9% 55,012
Nevada 26,364 49.5% 26,878 50.5% 53,242
Orange 577,900 54.5% 482,319 45.5% 1,060,219
Placer 97,330 56.4% 75,244 43.6% 172,574
Plumas 5,013 55.2% 4,065 44.8% 9,078
Riverside 358,259 56.5% 275,593 43.5% 633,852
Sacramento 229,100 45.1% 278,560 54.9% 507,660
San Benito 8,658 43.7% 11,163 56.3% 19,821
San Bernardino 300,713 56.6% 231,044 43.4% 531,757
San Diego 578,961 50.9% 557,432 49.1% 1,136,393
San Francisco 60,002 17.1% 291,660 82.9% 351,662
San Joaquin 93,560 48.9% 97,945 51.1% 191,505
San Luis Obispo 55,945 45.4% 67,353 54.6% 123,298
San Mateo 78,232 28.1% 200,314 71.9% 278,546
Santa Barbara 58,435 38.6% 92,793 61.4% 151,228
Santa Clara 189,463 31.8% 406,249 68.2% 595,712
Santa Cruz 30,164 25.9% 86,518 74.1% 116,682
Shasta 41,927 61.0% 26,755 39.0% 68,682
Sierra 852 52.4% 775 47.6% 1,627
Siskiyou 9,570 54.5% 7,978 45.5% 17,548
Solano 62,362 43.5% 81,017 56.5% 143,379
Sonoma 59,166 28.6% 147,467 71.4% 206,633
Stanislaus 77,367 50.3% 76,364 49.7% 153,731
Sutter 17,708 60.8% 11,406 39.2% 29,114
Tehama 12,546 61.4% 7,897 38.6% 20,443
Trinity 2,665 51.0% 2,558 49.0% 5,223
Tulare 56,848 57.9% 41,264 42.1% 98,112
Tuolumne 12,914 55.3% 10,439 44.7% 23,353
Ventura 146,052 47.8% 159,641 52.2% 305,693
Yolo 24,746 34.1% 47,815 65.9% 72,561
Yuba 11,700 61.7% 7,263 38.3% 18,963
Totals 5,283,222 43.2% 6,952,081 56.8% 12,235,303

References

  1. "Statement of Vote: 2008 General Election" (PDF). California Secretary of State. December 13, 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 6, 2013. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
  2. SOV STATE BALLOT MEASURES PDF
  3. Swan, Rachel (November 7, 2018). "Prop. 6: Californians reject gas tax repeal measure". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  4. Potter, Daniel (2017-12-19). "California Vehicle Registration Fees Increasing In 2018". Capital Public Radio. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
  5. "Text of the SB-1 Transportation funding bill".
  6. McGreevy, Patrick (December 29, 2017). "California drivers are paying more. Here's why that might get overturned in 2018". Los Angeles Times.
  7. California, State of. "SB 1 is a landmark transportation investment to rebuild California | Rebuilding CA". rebuildingca.ca.gov. Archived from the original on 2018-07-05. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
  8. California, State of. "Rebuilding CA - Senate Bill 1 - Project Map". rebuildingca.ca.gov. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
  9. California, State of. "Repaired pavement, better transit, congestion solutions, freight improvements | Rebuilding CA". rebuildingca.ca.gov. Archived from the original on 2018-07-08. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
  10. Glover, Mark (October 27, 2017). "You might want to fill up that gas tank before Nov. 1 tax hike". The Sacramento Bee. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
  11. McAllister, Toni (2018-04-29). "Carl DeMaio-Backed Gas Tax Repeal Said to Have Enough Signatures for Ballot". Times of San Diego. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
  12. McArdle, Mairead (2018-06-06). "Democratic Calif. State Senator Recalled over Support for Gas-Tax Hike". National Review. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
  13. McGreevy, Patrick (2018-05-02). "House Speaker Paul Ryan, Majority Whip Steve Scalise contribute to initiative to repeal California's gas-tax increase". LA Times. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
  14. Lenderman, Ed (2018-07-11). "NFIB small business association to join campaign to repeal gas tax hike -". KUSI News, McKinnon Broadcasting. Retrieved 2018-09-22.
  15. "CalChamber Outlines Positions to Date on November Ballot Propositions -". 2018-07-13. Retrieved 2018-10-08.
  16. "California Secretary of State Ballot Proposition 6". 2018-11-01.
  17. McGreevy, Patrick (2018-06-25). "California ballot will include gas tax repeal in November". LA Times. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
  18. "Orange County Register: Nearly one million signatures collected to repeal the gas tax hike". April 30, 2018.
  19. "San Francisco Chronicle: Did Becerra's wording on Prop. 6 have something to do with new support?". October 3, 2018.
  20. "Ballotpedia: California Proposition 6, Voter Approval for Future Gas and Vehicle Taxes and 2017 Tax Repeal Initiative (2018)".
  21. "San Diego Union Tribune Poll: Californians want to repeal gas tax hike, support year-round daylight savings". October 16, 2018.
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