Sixty-nine percent of California voters said "yes" to Proposition 42, a ballot measure that will dedicate all proceeds from state gasoline tax to highway and transit use. Gas proceeds in the state are about $1.4 billion a year.
"The public believes that any money you pay at the pump should be invested in transportation. You didn't have to sell them any further," said Allen Zaremberg, president of the California Chamber of Commerce.
The measure--which prevents state lawmakers from tapping gas-tax revenues for non-transportation purposes--held off an 11th-hour campaign by public employee unions who argued passage might prompt cuts in education and vital health services. Under prior law, proceeds from the tax were to be used for urban gridlock relief through June 2008, but would have reverted to the state general fund thereafter.
