The road funding package announced by Governor Brown and Democratic legislative leaders is already being denounced by Republican lawmakers and is also expected to get some opposition from Democrats. Nevada County’s State Senator, Ted Gaines, says the focus should not be on new fees and taxes but on better use of existing revenue in the general fund budget. He says Californians are only getting 33-cents on the dollar for their transportation spending, including billions of dollars being diverted from weight fees…
The plan also includes a constitutional amendment meant to keep lawmakers from shifting transportation revenue to other uses. Gaines says the state could also find more revenue for road upgrades by cancelling the High Speed Rail Project. He says another half-a-billon dollars could be saved, by following the recommendation of the Legislative Analyst to reduce Cal Trans overstaffing by 3500 people. But he says the proposal also simply places an unfair financial burden on many motorists…
Gaines also says the state should also be more assertive in trying to gain more federal funding from the Trump Administration’s infrastrucure investment plan.
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