North Bay Lawmaker Says Gov. Brown's Highway Funding Plan Will Be A Tough Sell In Legislature
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) -- Most California motorists can agree on one thing: that our roads need to be fixed.
As for how to pay for those repairs -- with a backlog amounting to an estimated $59 billion -- that's subject to debate, a debate that will be coming to a head this week in the state legislature.
North Bay assemblyman Marc Levine spoke about it Sunday on KPIX 5.
"We've put a deadline on the legislature to have this figured out by Friday, Sept. 11," Levine told KPIX 5's Phil Matier.
Gov. Brown has proposed a $3.6 billion package that includes an annual "highway user fee" of $65 which could be tacked on to the registration fee paid by every car and truck owner -- including owners of electric-powered cars.
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"There's a little bit of give-and-take on how do we piece together the votes necessary to pass something like this," Levine said.
The governor's proposed plan also calls for hiking the gas tax by 6 cents per gallon. It would be the first such increase in 20 years. The gas tax is already 42 cents a gallon.
No one expects the governor will get what he want without a vigorous legislative debate.
"The honest truth is, there's a lifetime between now and the end of the week, where we can figure out all of those details, but if we don't, we're probably not going to see a package," Levine said.
About half the money in Gov. Brown's proposal would go to local city and county governments to pay for roads, sidewalks and mass transit.