Bill Text: CA AJR5 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Chaptered

California Assembly Joint Resolution 5 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Transportation revenues.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 42-0)

Status: (Passed) 2011-06-08 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Res. Chapter 29, Statutes of 2011. [AJR5 Detail]

Download: California-2011-AJR5-Chaptered.html

BILL NUMBER: AJR 5	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER  29
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  JUNE 8, 2011
	ADOPTED IN SENATE  JUNE 6, 2011
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 29, 2011
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 29, 2011

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Bonnie Lowenthal
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Block,
Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Campos,
Carter, Davis, Dickinson, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani,
Gordon, Hall, Hayashi, Roger Hern�ndez, Hill, Hueso, Huffman, Lara,
Ma, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Pan, John A. P�rez, V. Manuel P�rez,
Portantino, Solorio, Swanson, Wieckowski, Williams, and Yamada)

                        FEBRUARY 10, 2011

   Relative to transportation.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AJR 5, Bonnie Lowenthal. Transportation revenues.
   This measure would request the President and the Congress of the
United States to consider and enact legislation to conduct a study
regarding the feasibility of the collection process for a
transportation revenue source based on vehicle miles traveled, in
order to facilitate the creation of a reliable and steady
transportation funding mechanism for the maintenance and improvement
of surface transportation infrastructure.




   WHEREAS, The primary source of funding for transportation in the
United States is derived from a variety of excise and sales taxes on
gasoline and diesel fuel collected by either the federal government,
or state or local governments; and
   WHEREAS, The excise tax on gasoline and diesel fuel (fuel tax) is
not indexed to inflation or any other factor, and as a result, its
value erodes with inflation over time; and
   WHEREAS, While the demand for transportation continues to grow,
the value of the fuel tax is diminishing, and is therefore becoming
an increasingly inadequate source of revenue to fund transportation
projects and programs; and
   WHEREAS, Aside from inflation, there is a need for the creation of
supplements or alternatives to the fuel tax as a source of revenue
for transportation projects and programs due to a combination of
other factors, including the declining supplies of conventional
petroleum-based fuels, increasing numbers of vehicles powered by
nonpetroleum-based fuels, and increasing numbers of fuel-efficient
vehicles; and
   WHEREAS, There is growing disparity in the revenue needed to fund
the protection and improvement of our transportation system and the
revenue available for those purposes; and
   WHEREAS, Vehicle-miles-traveled (VMT) fees have received
increasing attention in recent years as a potential supplement or
alternative to the fuel tax; and
   WHEREAS, The most recent multiyear federal transportation
authorizations act, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient
Transportation Equity Act--A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU),
established the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue
Study Commission (commission) to examine the condition and future
needs of the nation's surface transportation system, as well as
short- and long-term alternatives to the fuel tax; and
   WHEREAS, The commission, in its December 2007 report, recommended
consideration of a VMT fee; and
   WHEREAS, Implementing a VMT fee would involve a number of
operational, technological, and institutional challenges, including
determining the method for calculating the mileage driven, the
process by which mileage data is transmitted to a tax collection
agency, contingencies to address potential equipment failures,
adequate privacy protections, and a strategy for transitioning from
the fuel tax to a new method of highway user payment; and
   WHEREAS, Data on deployment of a VMT fee exists through the State
of Oregon's recent VMT pilot program; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the President and the Congress of the
United States are respectfully requested to consider and enact
legislation to conduct a study regarding the feasibility of the
collection process for a transportation revenue source based on
vehicle miles traveled, in order to facilitate the creation of a
reliable and steady transportation funding mechanism for the
maintenance and improvement of surface transportation infrastructure;
and be it further
   Resolved,That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
Majority Leader of the Senate, and to each Senator and Representative
from California in the Congress of the United States.