California Republicans displayed a passionate case of road rage recently, despite the fact that they weren\u2019t behind the wheel at the time.<\/p>\n
Instead, they were reacting to Democrats in the State Assembly moving forward with a bill (1) that requires the California Transportation Commission to produce a report analyzing the projected impact of implementing a statewide road charge program.<\/p>\n
The state describes the road charge program, which would replace California\u2019s gas tax \u2014 the nation\u2019s highest at $0.612 a gallon (2) \u2014 as \u201ca \u2018user pays\u2019 system where all drivers pay to maintain the roads based on how much they drive, rather than how much gas they purchase\u201d (3).<\/p>\n
Despite the fact that the bill only requires the Transportation Commission to deliver a report by January 2027, to be used for further discussion among lawmakers, GOP State Assemblyman Heath Flora decried it as \u201cpiling on another tax\u201d (1), while Bruce Lou, another California Republican, said that \u201ccitizens shouldn\u2019t be treated like ATMs\u201d (4).<\/p>\n
Democratic Assemblywoman Lori D. Wilson, who put forward the bill, countered by accusing state GOP members of \u201ccompletely lying and mischaracterizing the bill\u201d (1). State research into road charges has been ongoing for at least a decade (5), and this bill will simply further that by requesting a concrete report. And when implemented, road charges generally replace existing gas taxes, and are not levied in addition to them.<\/p>\n
Partisan politics aside, however, the reality is that there may be a real need to replace gas taxes with another revenue stream, like a road charge \u2014 and one that could extend beyond California in the coming decade.<\/p>\n
California is among 17 states (6) engaged in studying the introduction of road charges \u2014 also known as a road usage charge (RUU) \u2014 to replace a gas tax. And that\u2019s in addition to four states \u2014 Hawaii, Oregon, Utah and Virginia \u2014 that have already implemented voluntary RUCs.<\/p>\n
The reason for doing so is that, due to everything from more fuel-efficient cars on the road to the rise of electric vehicles (EVs), people aren\u2019t heading to the pumps as often. As a result, revenues from gas taxes \u2014 which help pay for the building, repair and upkeep of local infrastructure \u2014 aren\u2019t keeping up with the needs of states.<\/p>\n
A 2025 California state assessment (7) identified the need for $757.5 billion in total transportation funding through 2035. However, the state is only projecting $572 billion in revenue during that period as a result of reduced fuel consumption, partly due to the state\u2019s environmental initiatives. The assessment projected a loss of $31 billion in revenue over the next decade \u2014 and an overall transportation funding shortfall of $216.4 billion.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe current per-gallon fuel tax is no longer keeping up with highway funding needs because vehicles can travel much farther on a single gallon of fuel,\u201d transportation researcher Christopher E. Ferrell told the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) at San Jose State University a decade ago (8).<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it has been difficult to convince voters to increase that tax. If revenue were based on a fee per mile traveled, it could be more realistic.”<\/p>\n
And while some may blame the Golden State\u2019s focus on more environmentally friendly vehicles \u2014 including a law (9) that will require all new vehicles to be zero-emission by 2035 \u2014 for its ongoing transportation funding woes, California isn\u2019t alone in this budgetary bind.<\/p>\n
State revenue from the gas pump is falling across the country. Authors of a 2025 report by the National Association of State Budget Officers (10) noted that \u201cmotor fuel taxes had declined as a percentage of overall transportation revenue, going from 41.1% in fiscal 2016 to 36.3% in fiscal 2024.\u201d The authors estimated a slight uptick, to 36.5% in 2025, but the overall downward trend remains clear \u2014 especially as more EVs and other zero-emission cars hit the roads.<\/p>\n
In fact, Tax Foundation researchers (11) found that using the traditional model of roadway-related revenue like gas taxes, tolls, vehicle licence and registration fees and more, \u201conly three states \u2014 Delaware, Montana, and New Jersey \u2014 raise enough revenue to fully cover their highway spending.\u201d As a result, they write that switching \u201cto a direct user fee on each mile driven\u201d via a vehicle miles traveled (VMT) tax, which is the same as an RUC, would provide \u201ca better long-term fix\u201d to state revenue woes.<\/p>\n
Read More: The average net worth of Americans is a surprising $620,654. But it almost means nothing. Here\u2019s the number that counts (and how to make it skyrocket)<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe legacy approach to funding our nation\u2019s surface transportation infrastructure through a fuel tax will soon be far too insufficient,\u201d Jay Golden, environmental sustainability and finance professor at the Dynamic Sustainability Lab at Syracuse University warned in a 2024 report (12) for The Pew Charitable Trusts.<\/p>\n \u201cStates across the country must quickly develop new transportation funding strategies, or we will face a significant national crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n Those who champion RUCs often cite it as a more equitable option than a gas tax, leveling the playing field and ensuring all drivers \u2014 regardless of their vehicle \u2014 pay to maintain the transportation infrastructure that everyone uses.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s probably a more fair way to make sure everybody pays something, and pays the same amount per mile,\u201d Nate Bryer, who directs RUC development at the engineering and design firm WSP, said in an interview with Government Technology (13).<\/p>\n With RUCs, drivers pay per mile driven, as opposed to the flat gas tax. And research shows that, compared with the gas tax, the difference in cost is marginal to the average driver.<\/p>\n In a University of California study (14) in 2025, authors noted that the cost of an RUC \u201cranges from 30% cheaper to 25% greater than the gasoline tax,\u201d with a difference of \u201conly +\/-5% in most areas.\u201d In total, they said the percentages amounted to \u201ca difference of only a few dollars over the course of the entire year.\u201d<\/p>\n Similarly, authors of a report by RUC America (15) \u2014 a group of state transportation organizations \u2014 noted that RUCs led to a maximum added monthly cost of $1.35 and maximum savings of $3.32, with rural areas benefitting most because they \u201chave less fuel-efficient vehicles than urban drivers on average.\u201d<\/p>\n Methods for collecting RUC payments vary by state and range from using specialized apps to mileage recordings during annual car safety inspections to odometer plug-ins \u2014 including some with non-GPS capabilities for those concerned about privacy and movement tracking.<\/p>\n \u201cYou could do congestion pricing. You could do layered pricing. You could use that data for multiple things, and you can still do it in such a way to protect people\u2019s privacy,\u201d Bryer said (13), calling it a \u201cwin-win for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n An added bonus, the Washington State Transportation Commission notes (16) on its Road Usage Charge info page, is that RUC pricing offers the ability to allot discounts to help \u201creduce the tax burden on low-income motorists.\u201d<\/p>\n And while RUCs may be a tough sell to Americans due to anything from worries about added costs to privacy concerns, a MTI survey (17) suggests that the framing of the initiative makes all the difference.<\/p>\n When asked, only 39% of respondents supported a flat-rate RUC in lieu of a gas tax, but that support jumped to 51% when the charge incurred was tied to a car\u2019s emissions.<\/p>\n Join 200,000+ readers and get Moneywise\u2019s best stories and exclusive interviews first \u2014 clear insights curated and delivered weekly. Subscribe now.<\/a><\/p>\n We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n ABC 10 News (1<\/a>); IGEN (2<\/a>); CA.gov (3<\/a>); @RealBruceLou\/X (4<\/a>); CARoadCharge.com (5<\/a>); National Conference of State Legislatures (6<\/a>); California Transportation Commissio (7<\/a>); Mineta Transportation Institute (8<\/a>), (17<\/a>); California Air Resources Board (9<\/a>); National Association of State Budget Officers (10<\/a>); Tax Foundation (11<\/a>); Dynamic Sustainablity Lab (12<\/a>); Government Technology (13<\/a>); University of California (14<\/a>); RUC America (15<\/a>); (16<\/a>)<\/p>\n This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"California Republicans displayed a passionate case of road rage recently, despite the fact that they weren\u2019t behind the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":163797,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,9176,76934,20390,79285,65428,1967],"class_list":["post-163796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-dave-ramsey","tag-gas-tax","tag-revenue","tag-ruc","tag-state-assembly","tag-transportation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}