2018 California Proposition 6

California Proposition 6 was a measure that was submitted to California voters as part of the November 2018 election. The ballot measure proposed a repeal of the Road Repair and Accountability Act (a fuel tax), which is also known as Senate Bill 1 (SB 1). The measure failed with about 57% of the voters against and 43% in favor.[2][3]

Proposition 6

Eliminates Certain Road Repair And Transportation Funding. Requires Certain Fuel Taxes And Vehicle Fees be Approved by the Electorate. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.
Results
Response Votes % Yes 5,283,222 43.18% No 6,952,081 56.82% Valid votes 12,235,303 100.00% Invalid or blank votes 0 0.00% Total votes 12,235,303 100.00% Registered voters/turnout 19,696,371 62.12%
Results by county
Source: California Secretary of State[1]

Road Repair and Accountability Act

On April 6, 2017, the California State Legislature passed the Road Repair and Accountability Act (RRAA) by a two-thirds margin, raising taxes on gasoline by 12¢ per gallon, taxes on diesel by 20¢ per gallon tax, and it raised annual vehicle registration fees from $25-$175.[4] The registration fee increase ranges depends on the vehicle's market value and is estimated at estimated 86% of all vehicles is either $25 or $50.[5] [6]

This bill aims to invest $5.4 billion annually in California's transportation systems.[7] Every county in California is scheduled to receive infrastructure investments from the RRAA.[8] State transportation infrastructure receives roughly half of the funding, with the other half going to local agencies. 17 projects have been completed under the RRAA, with scheduled work on 156 projects at various stages of completion as of September 2018.[9] Some California residents complained about how the tax affects them.[10]

Campaign

The ballot initiative “Repeal the Gas Car Tax” signature drive was led by Carl DeMaio.[11] DeMaio had previously orchestrated the recall of California State Senator Josh Newman because of his vote for SB1.[12] Republican politicians Paul Ryan, Steve Scalise and Kevin McCarthy have contributed money to the repeal campaign.[13] The National Federation of Independent Business has endorsed repealing the gas tax, by supporting Proposition 6.[14] The California Chamber of Commerce went on record in July 2018 opposing Proposition 6.[15] As of November 1, 2018, construction contractors, labor unions, and civic organizations had donated $46,465,916 to the campaign against Proposition 6. The Total amount of reported contributions for Proposition 6 as of November 1, 2018 is $5,078,484.[16]

Supporters gathered more than 940,000 signatures statewide, which exceeded the minimum requirement of 584,000 signatures for the measure to be on the November 2018 voter ballot.[11] If passed by voters, the Proposition 6 ballot initiative would have repealed the gas tax increase, repealed the car registration fee increase, and mandated any future gas tax increase be approved only by voters.[17] The ballot initiative was supported by John H. Cox (Republican candidate for California governor) and opposed by Gavin Newsom (Democratic then-candidate, future California governor) and Jerry Brown (then-current California governor).[17]

Wording dispute

A citizens initiative drive stating "Repeal The Gas Tax" signed by 940,000 voters qualified to be placed on the November 2018 ballot.[18] California Attorney General Becarra twice modified the wording [19] due to a court order. The wording officially on the ballot states:

"Eliminates Recently Enacted Road Repair and Transportation Funding by Repealing Revenues Dedicated For Those Purposes. Requires Any Measure to Enact Certain Vehicle Fuel Taxes and Vehicle Fees Be Submitted to and Approved By the Electorate. Initiative Constitutional Amendment."[16]

Independent ballot reference site Ballotpedia[20] lists out Proposition 6 in detail description as well as both pro and negative consequences:

"A yes vote supports this initiative to: Repeal fuel tax increases and vehicle fees that were enacted in 2017, including the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017 (RRAA) and require voter approval (via ballot propositions) for the California State Legislature to impose, increase, or extend fuel taxes or vehicle fees in the future.

A no vote opposes this initiative, thus: Keeping the fuel tax increases and vehicle fees that were enacted in 2017, including the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017 (RRAA), in place and allowing the state legislature to continue to impose, increase, or extend fuel taxes or vehicle fees through a two-thirds vote of each chamber and without voter approval."

Polling

The polling results below based on which Proposition 6 wording utilized. Some polls taken below are based on citizen signature initiative description "Repeal The Gas Tax" and other polls based on final description on the voter ballot. Reference shows poll using citizen initiative description instead of final wording that appears on the ballot.[21]

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Yes (Repeal)	No (Retain)	Undecided
YouGov	October 10–24, 2018	2,178	± 3.1%	34%	47%	19%
Public Policy Institute of California	October 18–20, 2018	1,704	± 3.3%	41%	48%	11%
Thomas Partners Strategies	October 18–20, 2018	1,068	± 3.0%	36%	42%	21%
Emerson College	October 17–19, 2018	671	± 4.1%	49%	31%	20%
SurveyUSA	October 12–14, 2018	762	± 4.9%	58%	29%	15%
Thomas Partners Strategies	October 12–14, 2018	1,068	± 3.0%	35%	36%	29%
Thomas Partners Strategies	October 5–7, 2018	1,068	± 3.5%	29%	42%	30%
Thomas Partners Strategies	September 21–23, 2018	1,068	± 3.5%	47%	28%	25%
Public Policy Institute of California	September 9–18, 2018	1,710	± 3.5%	39%	52%	8%
Thomas Partners Strategies	September 14–16, 2018	1,040	± 3.5%	44%	27%	29%
Thomas Partners Strategies	September 7–9, 2018	1,227	± 3.3%	46%	24%	31%

Results

Proposition 6[2]
Choice	Votes	%
Yes	5,283,222	43.2%
No	6,952,081	56.8%
Total votes	12,235,303	100%

Results by county

Here are the results by county.[2]

	YES		NO		Total Votes
County	#	%	#	%	#
Alameda	139,609	24.7%	424,863	75.3%	564,472
Alpine	183	30.3%	420	69.7%	603
Amador	10,423	60.1%	6,928	39.9%	17,351
Butte	41,925	48.2%	45,052	51.8%	86,977
Calaveras	12,689	59.8%	8,518	40.2%	21,207
Colusa	3,506	61.9%	2,161	38.1%	5,667
Contra Costa	140,839	34.5%	267,455	65.5%	408,294
Del Norte	4,248	52.3%	3,878	47.7%	8,126
El Dorado	50,228	57.5%	37,080	42.5%	87,308
Fresno	130,617	52.7%	117,159	47.3%	247,776
Glenn	5,128	62.5%	3,083	37.5%	8,211
Humboldt	17,096	33.2%	34,412	66.8%	51,508
Imperial	15,228	46.6%	17,457	53.4%	32,685
Inyo	3,554	50.3%	3,514	49.7%	7,068
Kern	112,506	56.5%	86,540	43.5%	199,046
Kings	17,626	59.2%	12,147	40.8%	29,773
Lake	9,333	45.3%	11,262	54.7%	20,595
Lassen	5,897	66.3%	2,996	33.7%	8,893
Los Angeles	1,119,062	38.7%	1,773,117	61.3%	2,892,179
Madera	22,779	59.9%	15,229	40.1%	38,008
Marin	28,814	23.0%	96,414	77.0%	125,228
Mariposa	4,488	55.4%	3,610	44.6%	8,098
Mendocino	10,431	32.1%	22,017	67.9%	32,448
Merced	28,027	48.1%	30,266	51.9%	58,293
Modoc	2,169	64.2%	1,212	35.8%	3,381
Mono	1,929	40.6%	2,822	59.4%	4,751
Monterey	40,524	35.5%	73,530	64.5%	114,054
Napa	19,842	36.1%	35,170	63.9%	55,012
Nevada	26,364	49.5%	26,878	50.5%	53,242
Orange	577,900	54.5%	482,319	45.5%	1,060,219
Placer	97,330	56.4%	75,244	43.6%	172,574
Plumas	5,013	55.2%	4,065	44.8%	9,078
Riverside	358,259	56.5%	275,593	43.5%	633,852
Sacramento	229,100	45.1%	278,560	54.9%	507,660
San Benito	8,658	43.7%	11,163	56.3%	19,821
San Bernardino	300,713	56.6%	231,044	43.4%	531,757
San Diego	578,961	50.9%	557,432	49.1%	1,136,393
San Francisco	60,002	17.1%	291,660	82.9%	351,662
San Joaquin	93,560	48.9%	97,945	51.1%	191,505
San Luis Obispo	55,945	45.4%	67,353	54.6%	123,298
San Mateo	78,232	28.1%	200,314	71.9%	278,546
Santa Barbara	58,435	38.6%	92,793	61.4%	151,228
Santa Clara	189,463	31.8%	406,249	68.2%	595,712
Santa Cruz	30,164	25.9%	86,518	74.1%	116,682
Shasta	41,927	61.0%	26,755	39.0%	68,682
Sierra	852	52.4%	775	47.6%	1,627
Siskiyou	9,570	54.5%	7,978	45.5%	17,548
Solano	62,362	43.5%	81,017	56.5%	143,379
Sonoma	59,166	28.6%	147,467	71.4%	206,633
Stanislaus	77,367	50.3%	76,364	49.7%	153,731
Sutter	17,708	60.8%	11,406	39.2%	29,114
Tehama	12,546	61.4%	7,897	38.6%	20,443
Trinity	2,665	51.0%	2,558	49.0%	5,223
Tulare	56,848	57.9%	41,264	42.1%	98,112
Tuolumne	12,914	55.3%	10,439	44.7%	23,353
Ventura	146,052	47.8%	159,641	52.2%	305,693
Yolo	24,746	34.1%	47,815	65.9%	72,561
Yuba	11,700	61.7%	7,263	38.3%	18,963
Totals	5,283,222	43.2%	6,952,081	56.8%	12,235,303

References

1. "Statement of Vote: 2008 General Election" (PDF). California Secretary of State. December 13, 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 6, 2013. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
2. SOV STATE BALLOT MEASURES PDF
3. Swan, Rachel (November 7, 2018). "Prop. 6: Californians reject gas tax repeal measure". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
4. Potter, Daniel (2017-12-19). "California Vehicle Registration Fees Increasing In 2018". Capital Public Radio. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
5. "Text of the SB-1 Transportation funding bill".
6. McGreevy, Patrick (December 29, 2017). "California drivers are paying more. Here's why that might get overturned in 2018". Los Angeles Times.
7. California, State of. "SB 1 is a landmark transportation investment to rebuild California | Rebuilding CA". rebuildingca.ca.gov. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
8. California, State of. "Rebuilding CA - Senate Bill 1 - Project Map". rebuildingca.ca.gov. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
9. California, State of. "Repaired pavement, better transit, congestion solutions, freight improvements | Rebuilding CA". rebuildingca.ca.gov. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
10. Glover, Mark (October 27, 2017). "You might want to fill up that gas tank before Nov. 1 tax hike". The Sacramento Bee. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
11. McAllister, Toni (2018-04-29). "Carl DeMaio-Backed Gas Tax Repeal Said to Have Enough Signatures for Ballot". Times of San Diego. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
12. McArdle, Mairead (2018-06-06). "Democratic Calif. State Senator Recalled over Support for Gas-Tax Hike". National Review. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
13. McGreevy, Patrick (2018-05-02). "House Speaker Paul Ryan, Majority Whip Steve Scalise contribute to initiative to repeal California's gas-tax increase". LA Times. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
14. Lenderman, Ed (2018-07-11). "NFIB small business association to join campaign to repeal gas tax hike -". KUSI News, McKinnon Broadcasting. Retrieved 2018-09-22.
15. "CalChamber Outlines Positions to Date on November Ballot Propositions -". 2018-07-13. Retrieved 2018-10-08.
16. "California Secretary of State Ballot Proposition 6". 2018-11-01.
17. McGreevy, Patrick (2018-06-25). "California ballot will include gas tax repeal in November". LA Times. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
18. "Orange County Register: Nearly one million signatures collected to repeal the gas tax hike". April 30, 2018.
19. "San Francisco Chronicle: Did Becerra's wording on Prop. 6 have something to do with new support?". October 3, 2018.
20. "Ballotpedia: California Proposition 6, Voter Approval for Future Gas and Vehicle Taxes and 2017 Tax Repeal Initiative (2018)".
21. "San Diego Union Tribune Poll: Californians want to repeal gas tax hike, support year-round daylight savings". October 16, 2018.