Proposition 6

The SB 1 gas tax was passed a year ago, by state legislators, as a way to finance road and freeway expansions and repairs. It’s a big tax — adding more than 12 cents to the price of a gallon of gas and raising registration fees by an average of $50 per vehicle — that’s projected to generate a big amount of money, more than $54 billion, over the next decade.

Given all that, the outcome of Prop. 6 — known as the Voter Approval for Future Gas and Vehicle Taxes and 2017 Tax Repeal Initiative — has big implications.

If approved, Prop. 6 would end the SB 1 portion of the taxes you pay at the pump and put more than $5 billion a year back into drivers’ wallets. It also could end many of the hundreds of road projects already financed by SB 1 and defund many more future projects. All of those projects are expected to generate tens of thousands of jobs and related economic growth.

If Prop. 6 is defeated, SB 1 would stay in place. The money it generates would help finance a statewide transportation building boom that figures to last through any economic cycles of the next decade.

Supporters say passage of Prop. 6 would lower gas prices immediately. They also point out that the tax is regressive, with poor people paying a greater share of their income than the wealthy pay. Supporters also argue that the state can finance road construction without SB 1, by pulling money from other projects and programs.

Prop. 6 opponents say that California has some of the