Gas Tax Measure Isn’t GOP’s Way, Says Deukmejian

In a case of politics turned upside down, Republican Gov. George Deukmejian said Tuesday that a proposal by GOP lawmakers to place an 8-cent-a-gallon gas tax increase on the November ballot is “contrary” to what Republicans stand for.

At the same time, Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) said Democrats, who had embraced similar proposals, are not likely to support placing any gas tax measure before voters this year.

“I don’t think there will be anything on the November ballot,” Brown told reporters. Saying he is convinced that the GOP proposal was motivated by election-year politics, Brown added, “My assumption is that (Republican legislators) are trying to get the maximum political mileage in those districts where transportation happens to be the biggest and the sexiest and the most vote-generating issue.”

Deukmejian, who was attending the National Governors Assn. conference in Cincinnati, said he was not consulted by the Republican leaders before they drafted and unveiled their tax plan. And he expressed bewilderment at their sudden willingness to consider a tax increase. “In the past, the Republicans have generally opposed any tax increases,” Deukmejian told reporters. “So a proposal at this time certainly seems to be contrary to what their often-stated position has been.”

But the governor said he may not stand in the way of putting a gas tax measure on the ballot, should it reach his desk, although he personally remains opposed to any such tax increase.

The twin statements by Deukmejian and Brown make it doubtful that lawmakers and the governor can forge an agreement to help solve California’s transportation problems before the Legislature adjourns on Aug. 31.

Senate Republican Leader Ken Maddy of Fresno and Assembly Republican Leader Pat Nolan of Glendale proposed the gas tax ballot measure Monday in the hope that it would provide a politically palatable method of raising more than $1 billion a year to rebuild and expand the state’s strained network of roads and freeways.

Voter Approval Required

Their plan would require voter approval of a constitutional amendment that would increase the fuel tax by 8 cents a gallon and declare the new revenue to be a “user fee,” thus placing it outside the state’s spending limit.

California now collects a 9-cent fuel tax on each gallon of gas and a 6% sales tax. Federal taxes take another 9-cents per gallon.

The Republican leaders, who in the past have opposed most tax increases, said they were motivated to act by the narrow defeat in June of Proposition 74, Deukmejian’s own proposal to raise $1 billion for transportation by issuing bonds. The measure was rejected by 541 votes out of more than 5.2 million ballots cast.

Since the defeat, Deukmejian has not advanced any alternate plans to alleviate a growing transportation crisis.

If a gas tax measure is to reach voters, an agreement between Democrats and Republicans is essential because it will take a two-thirds vote of the Legislature and approval by the governor to place the measure on the ballot.

No Discussions

Deukmejian said he has not discussed the tax plan with Maddy or Nolan and did not know any of its details. The governor has been out of California most of the last three weeks--first on a two-week trade mission in Asia and Australia and then at the governors’ conference.

“It wasn’t done with any prior consultation with me,” the governor said.

Brown also appeared piqued that the Republican leaders had unveiled their plan without attempting to reach a consensus with Democrats.

“You don’t hold a press conference and then go out and solicit votes,” Brown said. “I don’t believe it’s a sincere effort by Republicans. . . . They had any number of opportunities to embrace a gas tax increase when it was carried by Democrats and they were unalterably opposed to that. Am I to assume they suddenly got religion?”

Reasons for Opposition

Brown said the Republican plan will be opposed by many Democrats because the tax increase is too large and because it does not set aside enough money for mass transit.

The Speaker also was critical of the fact that the proposal would raise the state spending limit only for transportation projects while many Democrats also want to see the spending limit modified for education and other public services. Ironically, some conservative Republicans are expected to oppose the same provision of the measure but, in their case, because they do not want to see the spending limit tampered with at all.

“I don’t think it has a chance of getting a two-thirds majority in our house,” Brown said of the tax measure. He said a solution is not likely until the 1990 elections.

Nolan, the Assembly Republican leader, said through a spokeswoman that he was “disappointed that the Speaker seems to be so negative (about the proposal). If he has a better idea, he ought to come forward with it.”

Ann Richards, Nolan’s press secretary, said that Senate Democrats have shown strong interest in the tax plan. “It’s looking much better than the Speaker characterized,” Richards said. Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles), who was scheduled to meet with Brown late Tuesday to discuss the tax issue, withheld immediate comment.

‘Caldron Is Still Bubbling’

David D. Edlund, a spokesman for the California Manufacturers Assn., which has teamed with other business interests to lobby for a gas tax increase, said he does not believe the Speaker’s statements were the final word on the subject. “I think the caldron is still bubbling,” Edlund said.

“California is faced with a major crisis in transportation funding. The Speaker looks toward 1990, but the indication we have is that if we wait until 1990, we may not have sufficient funds to even match federal money that we otherwise would receive.”

The manufacturers are pushing their own plan, which would impose up to a 10-cent increase in the gas tax during a 10-year period.

Richard C. Paddock reported from Cincinnati and Leo C. Wolinsky from Sacramento