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.SOV STATE BALLOT MEASURES PDF

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 by $25–175. The registration fee increase ranges depending on the vehicle's market value an estimated 86% of vehicles would see an increase of $25 to $50.

This bill aims to invest $5.4 billion annually in California's transportation systems. Every county in California is scheduled to receive infrastructure investments from the RRAA. 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 . Some California residents complained about how the tax affects them.

Campaign The ballot initiative “Repeal the Gas Car Tax” signature drive was led by Carl DeMaio. DeMaio had previously orchestrated the recall of California State Senator Josh Newman because of his vote for SB1. Republican politicians Paul Ryan, Steve Scalise and Kevin McCarthy have contributed money to the repeal campaign. The National Federation of Independent Business has endorsed repealing the gas tax, by supporting Proposition 6. The California Chamber of Commerce went on record in July 2018 opposing Proposition 6. 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 is $5,078,484.

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. If passed by voters, the Proposition 6 ballot initiative would have repealed the gas tax increase, repealed the car registration fee increase, and mandated any future gas tax increase be approved only by voters. 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).

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. California Attorney General Becerra twice modified the wording 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."

Independent ballot reference site Ballotpedia 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.

Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof 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 6ChoiceVotes% Yes5,283,22243.2% No6,952,08156.8%Total votes12,235,303100%

Results by county

YES NOTotal votesCounty#%#%# 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% 18,963Totals5,283,22243.2%6,952,08156.8%12,235,303

References