Voters will decide on raising taxes on the wealthy to pay for electric car subsidies and fire prevention this November.
Proposition 30 has pitted usual allies against each other. Governor Newsom is against the measure while the California Democratic Party is in favor of it.
“Transportation right now is inflicting toxic diesel exhaust as well as gasoline fumes on our communities. Fortunately, we have a solution which is zero-emission transportation,” said Bill Magavern, policy director for the Coalition for Clean Air, which supports Prop. 30.
The measure would increase the personal income tax by 1.75 percent for people making over $2 million per year.
45 percent of the added tax revenue would go toward rebates and other incentives to buy new electric cars.
35 percent would go toward building charging infrastructure while 20 percent would fund firefighting and fire prevention.
“It’s a massive tax increase, we had a $100-billion-dollar surplus this year, and we’re heading into uncertain economic times. It’s a 20-year tax,” said Matthew Rodriguez with the No on 30 Campaign.
Those against the measure say that California is already spending billions to fight climate change and add that the extra tax is unnecessary with the state’s budget surplus.
“If you look at what Governor Newsom just did-- he invested $54 billion dollars in climate change legislation, that’s more than most state budgets,” said Rodriguez.
Governor Gavi Newsom is against Prop. 30 while the California Democratic Party is in favor of the measure.
The California Teachers Association, the California-Hawaii State Conference of the NAACP, and the California Chamber of Commerce are all opposed to the proposition.
Other groups on the yes campaign include the Coalition for Clean Air, the American Lung Association, rideshare company Lyft as well as various environmental groups and democratic clubs.
“We need to convert to electric cars, buses, and trucks and in order to do that, we need a lot of incentive funding because we need to persuade people to give up their dirtier older cars,” said Magavern. Proponents say the tax increase will help clean the air and fight catastrophic fires. The no campaign rebukes those claims and says that Prop. 30 will only help special interests looking to profit from taxpayers. “It is basically all in the service of one company. The rideshare company Lyft wrote the ballot measure-- they funded the entire ballot measure and put it on because they are looking to get the tax subsidies to switch their vehicles over to electric vehicles, so they need the money,” said Rodriguez. If passed, the tax hike would go into effect on January 1ST.
Proponents say the tax increase will help clean the air and fight catastrophic fires.
The no campaign rebukes those claims and says that Prop. 30 will only help special interests looking to profit from taxpayers.
“It is basically all in the service of one company. The rideshare company Lyft wrote the ballot measure-- they funded the entire ballot measure and put it on because they are looking to get the tax subsidies to switch their vehicles over to electric vehicles, so they need the money,” said Rodriguez.
If passed, the tax hike would go into effect on January 1st.
