Senate Bill 1 passed 27-11 this week, a transportation funding bill that will raise gas taxes and vehicle fees by $52 billion over the next ten years.

The bill will help fund road repairs and fixing highways and bridges.

Assemblyman Vince Fong, Vice Chair of the Assembly Transportation, released the following statement:

”Sacramento Democrats passed the largest gas tax in state history today.  Families across the state will bear the burden of higher gas prices and higher fees to bail out Sacramento for the transportation crisis they created by neglecting our roads for decades.  Before families have to change their budgets because of rising costs, Sacramento should first reexamine its own budget priorities. This recently passed gas tax will be coupled with another increase in gas prices resulting from a cap-and-trade extension--adding potentially 73 cents per gallon of gasoline.  Sacramento is tone-deaf to the fact that their policies are making it unaffordable for families to live and work in California.”

Senate Republican Leader Jean Fuller also released this statement following the passage of Senate Bill 1:

"It is deeply disappointing that legislative Democrats chose to punish Californians with tax increases after neglecting our roads for years. This out of touch plan will particularly hurt Californians struggling to make ends meet and give us all less than we deserve. It didn't have to be this way. Assemblyman Fong's transportation bill was a better solution to fix our roads and bridges without raising a penny of new taxes.”

Senator Fuller signed on as a co-author to Assembly Bill 496, introduced by Assemblyman Fong.

Assemblymember Rudy Salas issued the following statement on the bill:

“The families I represent drive too far to jobs that pay too little.”