Major public investment in our roads and transportation infrastructure has been a key to California’s growth into a global economic superpower. But in recent years, many of the roads, highways and transit systems that connect our economy and our communities have fallen into disrepair – threatening our state’s economic growth and the safety and health of our residents.

Gov. Brown’s package of tax hikes to fund road repairs is tough medicine to take, but we might just have to take it, at least in part.

We certainly can’t let California’s freeways, roads and bridges become even more run-down or unsafe. Something must be done, but it must be done in a prudent fashion.

SACRAMENTO - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr., Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de León and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon today joined labor, business and local leaders to announce a landmark transportation investment to fix our roads, freeways and bridges in communities across California and put more dollars toward transit and safety. The $5 billion-a-year program will cost most drivers less than $10 a month and comes with strict new accountability provisions to ensure funds can only be spent on transportation ...

SACRAMENTO - Cities, counties, local and statewide businesses and labor groups, transportation leaders and newspaper editorial boards from across California are supporting the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017 - SB 1, co-authored by Senator Jim Beall (D-San Jose) and Assemblymember Jim L. Frazier Jr. (D-Discovery Bay) - which invests $52.4 billion over the next decade to fix roads, freeways and bridges in communities across California and put more dollars toward transit and safety.

SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr., Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de León and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon today (4/5/17) joined a bipartisan group of labor, business, transportation and local leaders from across the state to call on the Legislature to pass SB 1 – the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017 – co-authored by Senator Jim Beall (D-San Jose) and ... Read More

California’s roads are crumbling, as every driver in the state well knows. Along stretches of Highway 99, to name one egregious example, the state of disrepair is downright Third World. The situation will not change without a significant infusion of funding.

Gov. Jerry Brown and California legislative leaders have proposed a plan that would do just that. But, naturally, it will cost us — to the tune of $52 billion over 10 years.

A plan to raise $52 billion over a decade for roads, bridges, and mass transit reflects a big, ugly bill that Californians have little choice but to pay.

Most of the money, to come from higher gas taxes and vehicle fees, would go to repair infrastructure that residents are already using — and, in many cases, have been using long and often enough that it’s falling apart. Depressed oil prices and proliferating hybrid and electric vehicles have increased the need by cutting into gas-tax revenue. Uncertain federal support under President Trump could make matters worse.

Set aside arguments over whether California’s roads need repair; just driving beyond your driveway proves that. The state estimates catching up on merely maintaining the state’s 175,000 miles of roads will cost $59.6 billion.

Set aside also arguments about where the money should come from. If there was an extra $59.6 billion sitting around in state coffers, our profligate politicians would have spent such a stash long ago. Those who argue we can redirect part of state’s annual $113 billion budget are severely underestimating both need and resources.

A road repair kit would make a nice birthday present for Gov. Jerry Brown. And that’s what he’s asking for from the state Legislature.

But never mind Brown. This would be a gift we all could enjoy, even with the attached tax increases.

The governor has set Thursday as the deadline for passage of a long-stalled road repair package. That’s the day before his 79th birthday. Maybe this is just a coincidence, but it’s doubtful.

California’s roads, highways and transit systems are the backbone of our state’s $2.4 trillion economy. Every day, millions of Californians take to the streets to get to work or get their children to school. Billions of dollars’ worth of products move across our state every single day.