Opinion: California Testing Road Use Tax That Will Hit Low-Income Workers Hard

By Marie Waldron, Times of San Diego

October 4, 2021

California has the highest gasoline prices in the country, and at 51.1 cents per gallon, our gasoline tax is also the highest.

Keep in mind that we have the country’s worst poverty rate, with many living just barely above the poverty level, and thousands have real problems just making ends meet.

Making matters worse, Senate Bill 339 has been signed into law by Gov. Gain Newsom. It will test implementation of a road usage charge before eventually requiring motorists to pay a per-mile-driven tax. We already pay over twice what other Americans pay for fuel and vehicle maintenance and SB 339 adds to the burden.

Remember, the new “RUC,” as it is known, will be on top of the existing gas tax, and there’s no indication the gas tax will be reduced as the charge is implemented.

The RUC would replace declining gas tax revenues as motorists shift from gasoline to electric vehicles. But there’s a real problem. Electric owners have a mean annual income of nearly $200,000 a year, 81% are college educated and 81% are homeowners.

For the most part, these are not people making two-hour commutes to get to work. Median and low-income commuters are rarely electric owners, nor are they likely to be anytime soon.

So SB 339 unfairly shifts the cost of maintaining roads to lower-income drivers and rural communities while giving wealthier electric owners what amounts to a free ride.

Gas taxes are constitutionally protected; funds cannot be diverted for non-transportation purposes. No such protections exist for RUC revenue, and history shows funds without constitutional protections can easily be diverted to other uses.

Another problem — local jurisdictions, including San Diego County — are considering implementing their own RUC, so the state’s travel tax would be in addition to the county’s travel tax, on top of the gas tax.

California’s lower-income drivers should not bear the burden of maintaining our state’s highways.

Assembly Republican Leader Marie Waldron from Escondido represents the 75th Assembly District, which includes the communities of Bonsall, Escondido, Fallbrook, Hidden Meadows, Pala, Palomar Mountain, Pauma Valley, Rainbow, San Marcos, Temecula, Valley Center and Vista.

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