Davis to Push for Gas Tax Measure

Following through on a deal reached during budget deliberations, Gov. Gray Davis will launch a campaign in support of a constitutional amendment to earmark state sales tax on gasoline for transportation projects, administration sources said.

Davis will kick off his public campaign today at a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the first segment of a 28-mile extension of the Foothill Freeway under construction in Rialto.

Davis and Assembly Democrats agreed to back the constitutional amendment, which had been a major priority for Republicans, in exchange for Republican support for the governor’s proposal to use $1.3 billion in transportation funding to help balance the budget in the current fiscal year.

Administration sources said Davis will go beyond voicing support. He will actively lobby Californians to vote for the measure when it appears on the ballot in March. The amendment requires the approval of a majority of the voters.

Assembly Republican leader Dave Cox (R-Fair Oaks) said the Democratic governor appeared to be doing a political flip-flop by saying he would now front a campaign to ensure gasoline taxes were spent on road-building projects.

Davis, Cox said, broke a promise to Republicans earlier this year when he said he would not phase out use of the tax for more general purposes as part of his budget. The issue had been part of an earlier budget deal between the two parties.

Cox called Davis’ new stance “a little disingenuous,” and noted that it was Republicans who came up with the idea of a public vote on the gas tax issue in response to Davis’ broken promise.

The revenues from the 7.5% gas tax flow to the state’s general fund, from which they are apportioned by the Legislature to various programs and departments during budget deliberations.

The move to permanently allocate that money to transportation projects is opposed by teacher unions and other labor organizations that fear it will take a potential funding source away from schools, parks and many social programs.

The proposal includes a clause that allows the constitutional amendment to be suspended by a two-thirds legislative vote if it appears that vital state programs cannot operate without the funding.

The amendment would divert up to $30 billion over the next 20 years to transportation projects. It would boost the annual budget of the Department of Transportation by about $1.5 billion.

Under Davis’ recently adopted transportation congestion relief plan, gas tax revenues are earmarked until 2008 to fund 141 transportation-related projects throughout the state. The constitutional amendment would permanently divert money starting in 2008.