Governor to Be Pressed to Increase Tax on Gas

When Gov. George Deukmejian sits down on Wednesday with business, labor and political leaders he has invited to grapple with one of California’s most vexing problems--its clogged and crumbling highways--their advice may not be entirely to his liking.

Interviews with most of the 27 leaders who have been invited to the governor’s transportation summit shows that there is resounding support for a substantial increase in the state’s 9-cent-a-gallon gasoline tax and strong sentiment for enacting it without seeking voter approval.

The governor, who in the past has favored financing new highway construction with general obligation bonds, has repeatedly vowed to veto any gasoline tax increase that would not require submission to the voters. But many interpret his convening of a summit to propose solutions for the state’s transportation problems as an indication that he may be open to compromise.

“We think a gas tax is long overdue. We’re not in favor of going to the people with the gas tax. We think that’s the responsibility of the Legislature,” said Jack Maltester, president of Californians for Better Transportation, a nonprofit coalition of businesses, labor groups and local governments advocating improvements in California’s transportation system.

Bipartisan Support

Maltester acknowledged that his group like many others invited to the summit hope to use the high-level meeting as an opportunity to try to persuade the governor to modify his position. With both Democratic and Republican legislative leaders having voiced their support for gas tax increases in the past, winning the governor’s approval remains the major hurdle for advocates of increased funding for transportation.

Maltester said he will come to the meeting prepared to argue that voters, who had to consider 29 initiatives last November, are fast becoming disenchanted with having to sort through an array of complex ballot measures at every statewide election.

“If the body politic of California is forced to refer every major issue to a referendum, we might as well have public policy by referendum and that would be chaotic,” said Tom Ellick, president of the California Manufacturers Assn. “I understand that there are political risks involved because nobody wants to be the legislator or the governor who increases taxes. At the same time what are they elected to do? They’re elected to provide leadership and they’re elected to make the tough decisions.”

Other groups said they would cite a poll taken last year by Californians for Better Transportation that shows a majority of voters are unwilling to approve gas-tax increases above 3 cents a gallon.

Vote Opposed

“Recognizing how important it is to solve the state’s transportation problems, we don’t see what would be gained by submitting it to a vote,” said Ed Gerber, executive director of the California Transit Assn.

“If you put a 10-cent increase on the ballot I think you’ve lost the initiative,” added Jerry P. Cremins, president of the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California. “I don’t think it sells. So do you do what legislators historically do--take half a pie. Then you sit on the freeway an hour instead of two hours.”

But Cremins said he and the others who will meet with the governor understand that before any gas taxes are increased, the voters would have to alter the state’s constitutional spending ceiling. The spending limit ties the amount of revenue that can be raised to population growth and the rate of inflation.

Nearly all of the groups were adamant that the summit as well as the Legislature should address not just the $3.5-billion projected deficit in the state’s five-year, $14-billion transportation improvement plan, but also the long-range problems of transportation in a state facing worsening traffic congestion.

Recommendations

The groups’ final proposals should include, they said, provisions for mass transit, recommendations for encouraging fewer drivers to use the highways and suggestions for using techniques such as double decking of highways and high-occupancy vehicle lanes (HOVs).

“I think we know that the transportation problem is going to take a comprehensive solution,” said Kirk West, president of the California Chamber of Commerce. “I think that there are just a tremendous variety of things that need to be considered. You need to do about 20 or 30 different things, including encouraging employers to look at this as a very top priority.”

While many declined to estimate how much it would cost and what level of tax increase would be required to reduce congestion, others agreed with legislative leaders who have suggested an additional $16 billion to $20 billion should be pumped into the system over the next decade. To raise that kind of money, they said, the first option would have to be a hefty increase in the gas tax.

A Senate proposal already calls for a 10-cent-a-gallon hike in the state gasoline tax while an Assembly plan requires an initial 5-cent increase followed by increases every two years for the next decade. Each increase would be tied to inflation.

Only Revenue Source

“If you look at the overall fiscal condition of the state there certainly is no other source that is there,” said Richard Simpson, executive vice president of the California Taxpayers Assn., a group that has not yet taken a position on presenting the tax issue to the voters.

Tom Schumacher, executive vice president of the California Trucking Assn., said higher taxes would hit his group harder than any other, yet the state’s traffic problems have become so serious that it is strongly supportive of a gas-tax increase.

“Average automobiles get 20 to 25 miles per gallon on the highway. Even our new (trucks) get about six miles to the gallon so you’re talking about a bunch of money to us,” he said.

With the gas tax as the cornerstone of any financing plan, some suggested that the final recommendations of the summit could include limited provisions for bond financing and proposals to encourage local areas to enact their own half-cent sales tax increases.

Quick Action Urged

Nearly all of those interviewed warned that the state should act quickly to raise the gasoline tax in an effort to undercut growing support for increasing the federal gasoline tax as a means of reducing the federal budget.

Several groups said they would come to the summit with specific positions. The manufacturers association, for example, will suggest a bond initiative to finance an inter-city rapid rail network that would link Sacramento to San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego. The Automobile Assn. of Southern California and the California State Automobile Assn. will arrive armed to oppose any plans for private toll roads in keeping with their philosophy that “the best toll is the toll we pay at the gas pump.”

David Ackerman, a former top official in Deukmejian’s Business, Transportation and Housing Agency and now a lobbyist for the Associated General Contractors of California, predicted that the Feb. 8 summit would be the first of many meetings between Deukmejian and business, labor and political leaders. He said the convening of the summit coupled with the legislative proposals for substantial gas-tax increases are both indications that state government is finally ready to grapple with long-term solutions to California’s traffic problems.

“I understand this (summit) is the governor’s idea and this is very loosely structured for him,” he said. “The governor’s never done this before in this way. Maybe this is a new approach to deal with major public policy issues, seeking agreement on a solution from all those involved.”