Summit Kicks Off Drive to Save Prop. 42 Money

Public and private stakeholders in the transportation, business and labor communities have come together to launch an all-out effort to resist further diversions of Proposition 42 funds--the sales tax on fuels--away from
transportation.

Transportation California and the Southern California Legislative Roundtable convened a "summit meeting" at the California Chamber of Commerce headquarters held Nov. 9 in Sacramento. More than 70 participants included regional transportation agencies, the heavy construction industry, building trades unions, the automobile clubs and key business organizations.

After hearing sobering news about the "dire" state of transportation funding in California and the likelihood of another attempt to raid Proposition 42 funds, summit participants focused on a game plan to aggressively implement a coordinated effort to reach out to the Administration and legislators.

This summit was an important step. Never have public and private sector players come together to work in concert to marshal all of their resources to help solve a transportation problem. However, the current situation is so serious that it is imperative that we work together in a coordinated fashion--with the same messages and the same clearly defined objectives, if we are to be successful in staving off suspension of Prop 42 in the next budget.

The coalition effort will focus on two critical priorities--opposing diversion of Proposition 42 funds in the 2005-06 State Budget and getting constitutional firewalls on the ballot to prevent open-ended raids on gasoline sales tax revenues in the future.

You and other leaders concerned with transportation needs can play an important role by speaking out and expressing your concerns to the Schwarzenegger administration and the Legislature.

We'll keep you posted as events move forward. If you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call at (916) 296-3543.

Mike Lawson,
Executive Director,
Transportation California