The gas tax increase has affected just about every driver in California. Those who believed their clean vehicles were safe from harm were wrong. But Proposition 6 in the 2018 ballot seeked to repeal the increase on gasoline taxes and motor vehicle fees.

What it does

In the official article of Prop 6 on ballotpedia, the fiscal impact stated that the goal of the gas and diesel tax increase was to put the estimated 2 billion dollar increase in revenue to “state highway maintenance and rehabilitation, local streets and roads, and mass transit.”

Unfortunately, although the increase was only 12 cents more per gallon, that can end up costing a family upwards of $500 per year more than they were already spending on gas.

Pros

Former Director of Caltrans, Robert K. Best from ballotpedia said “the waste of taxpayer dollars going to transportation is legendary. California could have great roads if it simply adopted basic reforms.” 

Voting YES on Prop 6 would repeal these new tax increases, and make sure the taxes California drivers already do pay go to maintaining roads and transportation. This movement was strongly supported by the Californian Republican Party.

Therefore, the party which makes up most of the state, the Californian Democratic Party, opposed this Prop. 

Cons

Supporters of NO on Prop 6, such as Brian Rice, Kwame Agyare, and Doug Villars on ballotpedia respond that the proposition “eliminates funding for more than 6,500 road safety and transportation improvement projects.” 

The majority of California believes it is more important for the fixation of over 1,600 unsafe bridges and overpasses in the state as there are roughly over 3,500 fatalities due to California roads every year.

Voting results

This prop was in fact defeated in the 2018 ballot with 43% voting YES and 57% voting NO.

This means that every driver—high school students with a driver’s license included—must pay a higher tax on gas in order to upkeep the roads they drive on each day.

Although Prop 6 was ultimately voted NO, there is a high probability that the issue will come back if the government does not deliver on their promises.