What Is Proposition 69? California Voter Guide 2018

LOS ANGELES, CA — Proposition 69 is known as a lockbox amendment. Last year, California passed the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, which raises more than $5 billion per year in gas taxes. Proposition 69 is a constitutional amendment that requires legislators to spend certain parts of that revenue on transportation projects. It essentially stops legislators from diverting those funds for other purposes.

The measure will not increase taxes nor will it affect revenue, but it will determine how money is spent. However and effort is afoot to repeal the gas tax. If it succeeds, it would render Proposition 69 moot.

The Argument For Proposition 69

The measure enjoys the support of the California Democratic Party as wells as numerous business and transportation advocacy groups.

Sen. Josh Newman, one of the measure's authors, summed up the case for Proposition 69 to the Voice Of OC.

"Given the urgency of the transportation and infrastructure repair backlog before California, and the additional burden we are asking the state’s taxpayers to take on to address it now, it is essential that we provide Californians with a very clear assurance that these new revenues will be spent only on repairing our aging infrastructure, reducing congestion, and otherwise supporting transportation improvements that foster economic development across the state – in urban, suburban, and rural areas alike," he said. "ACA 5 provides voters with the important assurance that their hard-earned money will be spent in a responsible and fiscally prudent manner."

Proponents of the measure point out that it won't raise taxes while forcing lawmakers to take on much-needed road and mass transit projects.

The Argument Against Proposition 69

The list of official opponents to Proposition 69 is quite small. It includes two legislators — State Senator John Moorlach and Assemblyman Frank Bigelow — who wrote the official ballot argument against it.

Moorlach was blunt in his assessment.

"How insulting can a ballot proposition be? Last year, a two-thirds majority of state legislators voted for a gas tax and vehicle fee increase for transportation improvements. And now they are asking you to tell them to only spend the money on that intended purpose? Do you see the lunacy of this request?"

The measure itself is an indictment on lawmakers' wasteful spending, contends Moorlach.

Bigelow argues that the proposition doesn't do enough to hold lawmakers accountable for transportation tax spending. It "fails to fully protect transportation taxes from being diverted to programs that do nothing to fix our roads and highways," he writes.

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