Though gas prices in San Diego have been steadily decreasing for the past month, they will be increasing once again come July 1. A six-cent increase per gallon will be instituted per the state’s gas tax. This increase will be kept in place until June of 2020, bringing the tax to 47.3 cents per gallon. The excise tax depends on the state’s prices.
Governor Jerry Brown signed Bill SB1 into law in 2017, bringing the tax up almost 12 cents a gallon. Democrats fought tooth and nail to prevent the gas tax repeal initiative from even reaching the ballot, but the Reform California campaign, led by Carl DeMaio, successfully acquired the necessary signatures to send the repeal to a state-wide vote. Reform California’s efforts to repeal the gas tax unfortunately failed during the midterm elections last year, allowing Democrats to continue raising the taxes of hard-working Californians.
In a state already struggling to keep businesses and families from leaving to more tax-friendly states, this latest tax increase will certainly exacerbate the issue. Democrats claim to support working class Americans, but repeatedly push policies that only make life harder and costlier for precisely the people they ostensibly want to help most.
