Assembly Democrats Refuse to Stop a Double Tax on Drivers

SACRAMENTO — Last week, Assembly Democrats passed a bill to study a new mileage tax in addition to the gas tax. Today, they doubled down by refusing to add protections that would stop drivers from being charged twice.

Republicans offered a proposal, ACA 12 (Wallis), that would have required clear taxpayer protections to be written into the California Constitution before any per-mile driving tax could move forward. Those protections would not allow a mileage tax to be added on top of the gas tax and require any per-mile charge to be fair and uniform.

“First, they want to tax gasoline and ban combustion engines to force California drivers into electric vehicles, then they realize that means less revenues from gas taxes so they come up with a mileage tax to cover the difference,” said Assemblymember Heath Flora.

“This is the last thing we should be thinking about; creative ways to tax Californians who already pay among the highest taxes while having the highest cost-of-living in the country.”

By voting down the proposal, Assembly Democrats made it clear they intend to charge Californians twice just to drive.

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