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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Democratic plan to fix California’s roads faces major opposition from environmental and health advocates who are furious about a provision in the legislation that they say would give the trucking industry a significant break from pollution regulations.
Intense lobbying of moderate Democrats in recent days casts doubt on whether Gov. Jerry Brown and the Democratic leaders who unveiled SB1 last week will secure the two-thirds majority votes needed in each house to pass the bill. The bill would raise $52 billion over 10 years with new taxes and fees to repair the state’s bridges and roads, and leaders set an April 6 deadline to get the legislation passed.
“This is a giveaway to the trucking industry and should be taken out,” Adrian Martinez, staff attorney at Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law organization, said about the provision. “This was thrust on people at the last minute. I’d be surprised if someone was arguing this is good for our air, good for our communities.”
Brown and legislative leaders imposed an April 6 deadline because they want the vote taken before lawmakers return to their districts for the weeklong spring break. That’s when legislators are more likely to hear from voters about the unpopular gas tax and higher vehicle registration fees that are part of SB1.
The governor told Democrats he wasn’t sure the timing would ever be better to create a much-needed revenue source for improving the state’s crumbling roads. He urged Democrats not to “blow it.”
“This is needed,” Brown told lawmakers at a committee hearing April 3, where the bill passed on a party line vote. “That’s my point here, you can’t escape the need.”
The bill was unveiled only last week, although lawmakers have been talking for two years about how to pay for the state’s estimated $59 billion backlog in road and bridge maintenance and repairs.
While environmental and health groups say they agree that the state needs to take action on roads, they do not agree with the provision in the bill they believe lawmakers added to win votes from lawmakers aligned with the trucking industry.
| By Melody Gutierrez San Francisco Chronicle
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