Our Stand on Propositions 6 and 10
California National Party Statement on Prop. 6
That the California gas tax is regressive, often hitting the most economically vulnerable communities hardest, is clear. As a flat tax spread over diverse socio-economic regions, more sparsely populated areas with generally lower income levels pay a greater share of their income for a more necessary activity. Such communities often feel powerless to see that this revenue is returned as investment for local infrastructure, drowned out in Sacramento by the needs of more populated urban areas.
We also recognize, however, that major infrastructure investment for repair and development is badly needed throughout California, and especially in densely populated areas which often have substantially more use and serve larger communities. Likewise, investment that increases the general commercial capacities of California, such as the potential of high speed rail, brings benefits to us all through increased revenue. It is fair that such projects should be paid for by all Californians.
The California National Party has suggested a solution in our platform—see the subsection “Gas Tax” under Prosperity and Growth—proposing a reduced, but by no means eliminated, California gas tax for necessary transportation infrastructure spanning multiple areas. This is combined with increased county autonomy over local gas taxes to fund local projects. Such tax rates, and the representatives who set them, would then be more responsive to direct voter accountability. Such a system gives urban areas the right to set comparatively higher gas taxes to pay for, and incentivize, mass transit, while more rural communities can set a rate that balances necessary infrastructure investment with cost of living issues.
Since Prop. 6 reduces the unfair gas tax without any replacement mechanism to fund local and California infrastructure projects in a rational manner, the California National Party takes no position on Prop. 6, supporting each voter’s ability to weigh these complicated issues against each other. However, we also ask voters to consider alternatives to the either/or positions advocated as the only possibilities by the status quo’s supporters and opponents. Instead, the California National Party calls for solutions, not more partisan posturing.
California National Party Supports Prop. 10
Housing is a dilemma throughout all areas of California; however, it is a complex problem with different circumstances, and thus different potential solutions, in various communities. Whether rent control is appropriate for a given place should therefore be left to the discretion of those areas. Because of this, the California National Party opposes the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, which mandates limits on rent control by blanket legislation from Sacramento and supports its repeal by endorsing Yes on Proposition 10.
Nothing about Proposition 10 mandates the introduction of rent control in any location that does not desire it, while allowing areas the freedom to use it as a potential tool to address their own specific issues as they see fit. Experimentation in certain communities will permit empirical evidence for what can potentially work, and what does not, that other communities can evaluate in making their decisions. This is one essential element of the local control that the California National Party supports.
We therefore ask all voters, whether or not you support rent control, to vote YES on Prop. 10, to give back to local communities the right to determine what practices work best for them.
