Amid fierce debate online, as well as partisan divide in Sacramento, legislators clarify there will not be an added roadway tax for Californians.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Conversations over a potential new mileage tax for California motorists are sparking fierce debate.
This follows a Democratic-authored bill that passed the Assembly last week on party lines and is now headed to the Senate.
Simply put, there will not be a new tax on Californians.
The bill by Democratic Assemblymember Lori Wilson of Suisun City, AB1421, just continues a conversation that’s long been in the works about eventually replacing the state gas tax with a vehicle miles traveled tax, VMT, as Californians increasingly turn away from gas-powered to clean-energy vehicles.
In an interview with ABC10, Wilson emphasized the bill asks for a study on that potential transition to be presented to the Legislature by Jan. 1, 2027, so that the Legislature can discuss future steps and possible implementation.
The bill would also extend until 2035 the committee that’s been tasked with seeing if that replacement would be doable.
The Road Usage Charge Technical Advisory Committee has been around since the 2010s, when the debate over a new road tax began.
“And when it comes to our declining gas tax revenue and declining transportation infrastructure, we’re not quite there yet. And we need to get quite there,” Asm. Wilson said. “How do we then do a transition? Like, what does that look like? How do we build the infrastructure [and continue funding it]?”
But what exactly is a road usage tax, and how would it work?
Legislative analyst Chris Micheli explained: “A vehicle would pay based upon the mileage it travels. Sort of like when we do toll roads or bridge toll. Those are often dependant on the length of travel.”
And on the study requested by Wilson, Micheli detailed, “[It’s to] determine whether or not first it would work to replace the gas tax eventually, and secondly, how it would actually be implemented. For example, privacy concerns. Having your vehicle be tracked mile for mile.”
That’s where Republicans have voiced their concern and strong opposition.
“A proposal becomes a study that becomes a temporary fee that becomes a permanent tax,” said Republican Assemblymember Kate Sanchez of Rancho Santa Margarita. “It is a tale old as time in this building, and it’s about time we say the quiet part out loud and really have that discussion about what that will become.”
Republicans are speaking out on what the potential is in terms of taxes. But again, there is no new tax planned at this time.
Republican Assemblymember Greg Wallis is trying to put the guarantee of a no double tax in writing, something to ensure the mileage tax replaces the current gas tax and will not cost Californians more.
The party has also argued California already has sufficient road investment through SB1, The Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, which invests over $5 billion annually in state and local infrastructure.
On the ongoing conversations about the lack of clarity of the bill, co-author and Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry stated, “Read the bill.”
As these debates continue in Sacramento — and as the Legislature will have to take on the results of the study next year, the goal is, “To generate the same amount of money to upkeep our streets and highways in the state of California,” as Chris Micheli puts it.
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