Proposed toll hike: Voters will get to decide on increases of up to $3

SACRAMENTO — Bay Area voters will decide whether to raise bridge tolls to pay for more than 30 road projects that reduce traffic under a bill signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday.

SB595 by state Sen. Jim Beall, D-San Jose, allows voters in the nine-county Bay Area to decide whether to increase bridge tolls by up to $3. The Golden Gate Bridge would be exempted from the toll increase. Beall said the tolls would help reduce “frustrating rushhour congestion,” with projects including the Dumbarton Corridor, Richmond-San Rafael Bridge; and new direct connectors for the Interstate 680/State Route 4 interchange.

“With more new jobs on the horizon, the Bay Area must invest in ways to get commuters off the road,” Beall said. “Under SB595, more BART cars will be purchased and service will be extended to San Jose, an Eastridge to BART Regional Connector will be created, and the planning process for a new BART Transbay Rail Crossing will be started.”

The bill also would allow Bay Area voters to decide whether BART should have an independent inspector general to review spending, investigate waste and propose changes for better service. That provision was pushed by state Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, a longtime critic of BART. The inspector general applicants would be narrowed to three finalists nominated by the BART board, with the final selection made by the governor.

On Tuesday, Brown gave final approval to SB797 by state Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, which allows voters in San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara to decide whether to approve a one-eighth-cent sales tax to fund Caltrain improvements and operating costs.

Another bill signed by Brown permanently scrapped the state’s high school exit exam.

The California High School Exit Examination was a requirement to receive a diploma in the state, but the Legislature voted in 2015 to drop it for the high school classes of 2015 to 2018. Diplomas were retroactively awarded to anyone who met all other graduation requirements after the test became a mandatory must-pass exam in 2004.

That resulted in an estimated 40,000 former high school students receiving their diplomas.

AB830 by Assemblyman Ash Kalra, DSan Jose, permanently eliminates the test.

The state canceled the test amid questions about the exit exam, which state officials said was not aligned with what’s being taught in schools. It did not match up with a switch to Common Core standards, which emphasize critical thinking rather than rote learning.