-Tom Del Beccaro
Governor Jerry Brown wants a massive tax increase, allegedly to fix California roads. Of course, he has completely abandoned his promise to not seek tax increases without voter approval. Republicans in the California legislature should take this opportunity to respond boldly to Gov. Brown, and to revive their lagging electoral fortunes.
For years, Sacramento has raided gas taxes meant to fix roads, in order to fund liberal social programs and other priorities of the Democrats’ agenda. That has led to tens of billions in deferred maintenance of California roads, which compounds the already-deferred maintenance problems of our water systems and power grid.
Our most recent winter storms have exposed the dangers of deferred infrastructure maintenance, as they brought damage that could have been avoided with adequate maintenance. Now, Brown and the Democrats want to raise your taxes in a new bill, hoping you’ll trust them to spend the revenue as it is intended to be spent. Of course, with state and local government debt in excess of $1.3 trillion, there will be many calls to raise taxes as a response in the near future.
If Republicans in Sacramento desire any semblance of relevance, they must boldly oppose the Brown tax bill. Yes, it is true they have offered an alternative. However, no one knows about it and no one ever will thanks to the California media, unless . . .
The “unless” is unless Republicans leave Sacramento and tour the state. They need to return to their home regions and districts, in order to speak directly to voters about the broken gas tax promises of the past, and to make the case that high speed rail funds should be used to fund necessary road repairs. You cannot make a name for yourself unless you actually market your ideas. Opposing a bad tax is the ticket Sacramento Republicans can use to do just that.