Thread: California Lawmakers Passes 400% Gas Tax Increase then Give Themselves FREE Gasoline

California Lawmakers Passes 400% Gas Tax Increase then Give Themselves FREE Gasoline and Cars!

BY SCOTT OSBORN ON JULY 29, 2017

Jerry Brown has signed a tax increase taking the price-based excise gas tax from $.10 a gallon to $.50 a gallon, but Brown and his ultra liberal legislature does not pay one cent for the gasoline that they use! They actually get free gas!

They gave it to themselves in 2008, so the crazy gas tax they just passed does not effect them.



Here are the details on the gas tax increase:

Existing: The base excise tax is 18 cents a gallon. A price-based excise tax is currently set at 9.8 cents a gallon, for a total rate of 27.8 cents a gallon.

Nov. 1, 2017: The base excise tax will increase to 30 cents a gallon.

July 1, 2019: The price-based excise tax will reset to 17.3 cents a gallon, about half-a-cent more than the rate the Brown administration projects will be in effect by then anyway.

The 47.3-cent combined excise tax in effect July 1, 2019 will be adjusted for inflation beginning July 1, 2020.
California is unique in giving legislators free rein on transportation spending, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In most other states, lawmakers must submit the same kind of mileage-expense forms used by companies to reimburse employees for their business travel.

“You have to prove what you’re using it for,” said Morgan Cullin, a Denver-based researcher for the bipartisan national organization.

On top of free gas, California lawmakers also get state-issued vehicles, another perk that most states avoid.
California is in debt $1.3 Trillion. That means every citizen in California is in debt almost $33,000. That is, unless you just move out!!! This represents a significant debt burden even by international standards.

Not included are billions of dollars in deferred maintenance and upgrades to California’s infrastructure. To the extent California’s government has not maintained investment in infrastructure maintenance, it has passed this cost on to future generations who will have to issue additional debt to pay for this expense.

So Sacramento is working hard to find every way it can to find more money to spend!

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed into law billions of dollars in higher fuel taxes and vehicle fees. The state will have an estimated $52billion more money to help cover the state’s transportation needs for the next decade. But we know it will not be spent well. There is always a TON of waste fraud and abuse in Sacramento spending. Like free gas and cars for the lawmakers!

The gas tax increase sets ambitious goals. By the end of 2027, it says at least 98 percent of state highway pavement should be in good or fair condition. EXCUSE ME? I have lived with California roads most of my life and that is just an outright lie!

California voters will get to weigh in on another part of the package: a constitutional amendment supporters say will keep lawmakers from diverting the money to other purposes. I GUARANTEE that will never pass!

California lawmakers are famous for passing laws that they exempt themselves from.

They voted 28-8 to exempt themselves from the gun-control laws that apply to the rest of the California.

You think maybe this will cause Californians to rise up? NOPE! It happened 6 years ago and since California has passed a plethora of other gun laws…that only apply to citizens.

In fact, Sacramento has put out so many new gun laws in recent years that liberal Governor ‘Moonbeam’ has vetoed half of them.

Red Skelton said so eloquently in his commentary on the Pledge of Allegiance:

And to the Republic — A Republic: a sovereign state in which power is invested into the representatives chosen by the people to govern; and the government is the people; and it’s from the people to the leaders, not from the leaders to the people.
California has it backwards, they are running with the method of “from the leaders to the people”
That is why I joined the 5 Million people who have fled California within the last decade.
You can take me out of Texas in a pine box, and even then I will be kicking and screaming!



http://joeforamerica.com/2017/07/cal...gasoline-cars/

Okay, a lot of Californian's have just lost their freaking minds for tolerating the abuse they're suffering at the hands of their state government! I realize most folks are at a place in their life where it's impossible for them to just pack up their life and move out. Those people have my sympathy.

Disgusting. Why would they get free gas to begin with?? Do they have EBT cards, too??

Originally Posted by Judy

Disgusting. Why would they get free gas to begin with?? Do they have EBT cards, too??

It's abuse of power as far as I'm concerned. Why would a governor even sign off on such a thing.

On top of their government owned vehicle and free gas, they also receive a salary of $104,118 annually and a per diem of $183.00 a day when in session. California legislators are the highest paid in the country and are considered full-time employees.

With a $183.00 daily per diem, they don't need an EBT card for food.

The problem is you are believing something that comes from the source: joeforamerica.com

http://joeforamerica.com/2017/07/cal...gasoline-cars/

California legislators' car allowance slashed

By Joe Garofoli and Marisa Lagos
Published 4:00 am, Friday, April 15, 2011


California legislators saw one of their most maligned perks slashed Thursday, as a panel charged with setting compensation ruled that lawmakers will have to traverse the state in their own vehicles - fueled only by a $300-a-month taxpayer-funded stipend.

The Citizens Compensation Commission didn't cut legislators' health benefits or salaries, which now average $95,291 for most lawmakers.

"But if we meet again," Commissioner Charles Murray said, "it could be everything on the table."

Taxpayers have long subsidized legislators' car leases and insurance, and have provided them with state-issued credit cards to pay for limitless supplies of gasoline.

"California is the only state that buys cars and leases them to legislators," Murray said, a practice that private-sector companies stopped doing "seven or eight years ago."

Consumer advocates praised the symbolism of eliminating the perk, which will save $2.1 million over five years, as another dent in the state's remaining $15.4 billion budget deficit.

"Even though it's only a drop in the bucket, you need drops to fill the bucket," said Doug Heller, executive director of Consumer Watchdog. "I would much rather see that money go toward textbooks or health services than for some legislator's car. This has been a long time coming."

In January, The Chronicle reported that last year California taxpayers paid $208,862 for the gasoline credit-card bills for the 80-member Assembly and $86,762 for the 40-member Senate.

That will change in December, when the new transportation plan takes effect. The average annual vehicle cost of $7,400 will be cut roughly in half under the new plan, according to the commission.

It is not known what will happen to the vehicles legislators are driving now, commissioners said.

"What the commission was trying to say was that benefits that no longer exist in the rest of the world shouldn't exist for legislators," said Thomas Dalzell, a Berkeley labor lawyer who was just appointed chairman of the commission.

Some legislators say the change will affect how frequently lawmakers from faraway districts will be able to interact with their constituents.

"We respect the commission's decision," said Mark Hedlund, spokesman for Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento. But Hedlund said it seemed that arguments about cutting the budget have evolved into "simply trying to make a political point of some kind."

Shannon Murphy, a spokesman for Assembly Speaker John Pérez, D-Los Angeles, said the car reduction seems "punitive." In 2009, the commission slashed elected leaders' pay by 18 percent and also cut benefits 18 percent. "In a state like California where some districts are huge, the one-size-fits-all approach is a concern," Murphy said. "One district alone is more than 32,000 square miles - that's bigger than 11 states."

With Thursday's cut and the possibility of more on the horizon, elected officials have shouldered deeper cuts than other state workers. Most other state employees took home 15 percent less in 2009 and 2010 because of involuntary furloughs imposed by former Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Currently, most state lawmakers are paid $95,291 a year.

Legislative leaders, such as the speaker of the Assembly and the Senate president pro tem, are paid slightly more. Most statewide officeholders make between $130,490 and $151,127.

The governor's salary is $173,987.

Lawmakers also are eligible for a tax-free stipend of $141.80 for each day the Legislature meets.

Gov. Jerry Brown declined to comment on the cuts at an appearance Thursday in Stockton, saying he hadn't studied the commission's decision yet.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/C...ed-2375071.php

JohnDoe, I have no problem with you disputing the article I posted. However, it would be preferred if you would use something a little more recent than 2011.

California legislators' car allowance slashed

By Joe Garofoli and Marisa Lagos
Published 4:00 am, Friday, April 15, 2011

I'm all ears but do you have something a little more recent. The salary and per diem information i provided was also from this year.

Here's where I received the salary and per diem information:

https://ballotpedia.org/Comparison_of_state_legislative_salaries

The "FREE GAS" thing isn't something new that started with the gas tax increase. People have been complaining about that, and writing articles about that since at least 2008.

Calif. lawmakers get free gasoline - US news - Life | NBC News
Sep 25, 2008 - The state is unique in giving legislators free reign on transportation spending. ... On top of free gas, California lawmakers also get state-issued ... "In six years, I haven't cost the state one plane flight, but I do have to use a lot of ...
-----------------------------

The 2011 article was a late night attempt to show that it was a long time problem, not something new.

--------------------------------------------
California legislators' car allowance slashed - SFGate
Apr 15, 2011- California legislators saw one of their most maligned perks slashed ... state-issued credit cards to pay for limitless supplies of gasoline. ... The average annual vehicle cost of $7,400will be cut roughly in half ... Lawmakers also are eligible for a tax-free stipend of $141.80 for each day the Legislature meets.

Getting rid of California lawmakers’ cars actually did save some money
BY ALEXEI KOSEFF akoseff@sacbee.com
AUGUST 07, 2017 12:01 AM

Despite the Legislature’s protest that switching to a mileage-based reimbursement system would raise expenses, the 2011 elimination of a perk providing cars to lawmakers has saved hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, according to a Sacramento Bee analysis of travel records.

The California Senate and Assembly spent about $750,000 on mileage in the 2015-16 session, paying members 53 cents per mile when they drove their personal vehicles on legislative business.

That’s almost half the nearly $1.4 million cost of car leases, maintenance and gas in 2009-10, the last full two-year session before the program was dumped amid state budget woes.

It is nevertheless a small drop in the Legislature’s overall budget, which includes salaries and benefits for thousands of employees, travel, office supplies and other services.

Spending for the Senate and Assembly totaled $246.8 million last year alone, according to annual reports, up about 14 percent since 2010.

But Secretary of the Senate Danny Alvarez said even small reductions in administrative costs provide money that can be redirected in a “beneficial way” to other legislative uses.

“Anything that’s saved in this area just means that we can use those savings in a different way,” he said.Alvarez said he has not closely examined the fiscal impact of eliminating the car-lease program, which happened before he took over as the Senate administrator.

He speculated that replacing the “wild card costs” of maintenance and volatile gas prices with the “stability” of mileage reimbursements could be behind the savings.

Members may also be driving less, Alvarez said, as the internet changes how they connect with their districts:

“You can get information out easily through social media.”

For decades, taxpayers picked up the tab on cars purchased by the Legislature and then leased to lawmakers for driving to the Capitol or around their districts.

The 40 senators and 80 Assembly members were allowed to choose their vehicles – some settled for used sedans, while others splurged on new Toyota Highlanders and Chevrolet Tahoes worth about $48,500 apiece – and paid a portion of the monthly lease.

The state covered gas, insurance and maintenance costs as well as the remainder of the lease.

The California Citizens Compensation Commission, which sets politician pay, targeted that benefit in April 2011, following other cuts it made to salaries during the economic recession.

Though eliminating the car-lease program would do little to close the state’s multibillion-dollar budget gap, members of the panel argued it was overly generous.

No other state provided all lawmakers with a vehicle of their choice.Chairman Thomas Dalzell was the only member at the time who did not support the change.

Believing that the board lacked authority over legislative travel, he abstained from the vote.He still regards the action as “petty and illegal” – a purely symbolic decision that had no effect on the state’s bottom line.

But he has no interest in revisiting it, he added, because “I don’t see what’s gained.”

“It was a drama issue, not a real issue,” Dalzell said.The panel initially proposed as a replacement a set car allowance of $300 per month, totaling about $432,000 annually, nearly halving what the Legislature spent on member vehicles.

But then-Controller John Chiang ultimately blocked the plan, concluding that California law only authorized legislators to be reimbursed for their miles driven, at the same federal rate as a public employee.

The Senate and Assembly objected to the commission’s decision, jointly releasing a study that concluded switching to mileage reimbursements could actually raise travel costs.

Some members, particularly those in large, rural districts, expressed concerns about having to drive their personal vehicles thousands of miles each month for meetings and constituent services.

Then-Assembly administrator Jon Waldie told The Bee that he believed the commission was simply trying to punish legislators.

Reimbursing for mileage, he asserted, would be less cost-effective than paying for the vehicles, their maintenance and gas.

“Even with all that it still comes out less per mile,” he said.

“That means the commission would be requiring the Legislature to spend more money than they currently do.”

Payouts are high for a handful of lawmakers who represent sprawling areas or drive long distances to the Capitol.

Nine sought more than $20,000 in reimbursements during the 2015-16 session, representing about 47 percent of the mileage expenditures over those two years.

At the top of the list were Assembly members Marie Waldron, R-Escondido, and Matt Dababneh, D-Los Angeles, who both claimed more than $30,000 in mileage reimbursements.Waldron’s office said she drives to Sacramento from her San Diego-area district because it’s hard for her to get to an airport.

Dababneh said he made a campaign promise not to use pool cars available to legislators at the Capitol, so he uses his personal vehicle for all official business, including events around his district, meetings in the Bay Area and sometimes driving to Sacramento instead of flying.

“I’m a very active member,” he said. “It’s all to do my job.”

Even more lawmakers, however, filed no reimbursement claims at all:

There were 24 without any mileage records last session.

In 2009-10, 20 members declined legislative vehicles one or both years, though all but three of them accepted at least some financial assistance for maintenance and gas.

For legislators who don’t drive as far, the difference in cost to the state can be striking.Former Sen. Lois Wolk, a Davis Democrat, claimed $3,102 in mileage reimbursements during the last two-year session, less than what the Senate paid annually for her lease in 2009-10.

In an email, she wrote that she didn’t “have much to say about the change,” though she did miss the Legislature maintaining her vehicle:

“Anyone who has had to deal with hours waiting, getting a ride (to) the office and back, or juggling the time, can understand what a benefit it was!”Sen. Ted Gaines, R-El Dorado Hills, called the elimination of the car-lease program a “wise decision that benefited taxpayers.”

He received $5,350 in mileage reimbursements over the past two years, compared to 2009-10, when the Assembly paid $9,306 for his lease, maintenance and gas.

The old system was “more open-ended, and you had more miles driven,” Gaines said, whereas “something that is recorded for reimbursement, you’re more conscious of it.”

He said the switch has made him more “prudent and careful about what we ask for reimbursement on.”

He does not include the 28-mile drive from his El Dorado County home to the Capitol in his mileage claims.

Former Sen. Mark Leno, a Democrat from San Francisco, drove his own car after he was first elected to the Assembly in 2002.

He said it was “my one little sacrifice to the state” because of enormous budget deficits at the time, but the Speaker’s Office ultimately convinced him that it would save money on gas if he leased a more fuel-efficient hybrid vehicle from the Legislature.

Leno filed for $8,485 in mileage reimbursements during the 2015-16 session, primarily driving back and forth between his home and the Capitol, compared to $12,191 that the Senate spent during the final two years of the car-lease program.

When the switch happened in 2011, Leno bought his vehicle from the Senate, he said, “and I’m still driving that same car today.”

http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-...165575302.html

California Gas Tax Means Caltrans Is Looking To Hire 1,000 New Workers

August 8, 2017 7:26 PM By Melissa Caen

SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) — Caltrans isn’t waiting for the gas tax hike in November, they are getting ready to get to work on California’s roads.

Caltrans will have $5 billion for road repairs and are gearing up to hire a lot of workers.

The gas tax will go into effect in November and is expected to raise $52 billion over 10 years.

State Sen. Jim Beall (D-San Jose) said, “This bill will provide jobs.”

And the hiring has begun.

Back in April, when Beall was pushing for his bill to increase the gas tax, it was not an easy vote – but he promised that the road repairs funded by the tax would mean jobs.

Beall said, “This bill will provide hundreds of thousands of jobs for poor people that need work, and it will stimulate the economy.”

Arguing against the gas tax, State Senator Jeff Stone (R-Riverside) said while some people will be helped, many would be hurt.

Stone said, “Under SB 1, middle class families and working class will pay hundreds of dollars more every year in higher taxes and fuel cost.”

The tax increase of about 12 cents a gallon won’t go into effect until November, but already Caltrans is looking for more than a thousand new employees to start fixing roads.

Most openings are for engineers or other planners, but about a 250 are for blue-collar union jobs like equipment mechanic and maintenance.

In the Bay Area, Oakland is a hub for Caltrans and you can apply for local jobs online anytime.

Over the next few months, Caltrans will also be at two job fairs, one in San Francisco on August 17 and one in Berkeley on March 13 at the UC Berkeley campus.

Even if you’re not looking for a job, all this hiring could still be good news.

State Senator Bob Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) says these jobs keep the state economy afloat.
Hertzberg said, “When you look and study, the Department of Finance will tell you on these down turns, one of the reasons why last time around it wasn’t so bad is we had so much money on school construction that gave high wage, middle class jobs to folks that mitigate against those down turns.”

So why’s there a rush to hire?

Well, since the tax goes into effect in November — and it is wildly unpopular — having improvements underway in communities across the state will help residents see and feel the immediate results of the tax.

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/201...ltrans-hiring/