Gas tax supporters say the increase was way overdue

Q I am disgusted and outraged at the trolls beating on you about the gas tax. Talk about cheap, selfish behavior. — Mike Roberts Portola Valley A You mean I’m not a schmuck as a reader called me for busting the myth that dollars have been diverted from transportation to other needs when the reverse has been true? Q It took years and years of hard work, and a broad consensus across many business and public sector leaders to finally do something about the grossly inadequate funding for our roads. It’s time for those of us who want good highways and are willing to pay for them to stand up and fight. — Mike Roberts

There are others who think the 12-cent-per-gallon gas tax, the 20-cent-per-gallon diesel tax and higher registration fees are way overdue to put a significant dent in our $130 billion backlog for transportation needs.

But there may be trouble ahead. Opponents have begun an effort to collect 587,407 signatures of registered voters and put a measure on next year’s ballot to repeal the tax hikes that kicked in on Nov. 1.

Our democracy can thrive if we look at issues as facts and then make our decisions based on our needs. The facts show that the gas tax enacted in the 1990s was woefully under-funding the maintenance of our roads, and the decision to increase the gas tax was an appropriate solution to our needs. — Paul Boehm, San Jose A Appropriate yes. Q Wow! What an outrage of the misinformed resorting to poor insults when they won’t hear any arguments, happily ignoring facts. The only winners, if the gas tax is repealed, are big oil companies, who’ll just fork in the extra 12 cents without reducing gas prices.

With the gas tax, we’ll get the funds that Congress is not providing because they are too busy giving tax breaks to billionaires to repair our roads. — Jürgen Menge, San José A But … Q I am in complete agreement with the majority of your readers responding to your answer on the issue regarding the new gas tax and its use. I don’t believe anything the transportation agency says about how the money will be used. You are such an optimist and living in some fantasy world. — Sharon Wangsness San Jose A That’s better than being called a schmuck.