Poll: Majority Of California Voters Support Gas Tax Repeal

A majority of likely California voters say they support the repeal of the state’s new gas tax law.

That’s according to a new UC Berkeley poll out Friday, which asked about the law signed by Governor Jerry Brown this past spring.

Likely voters back the repeal of the transportation funding measure by a margin of 52 percent to 43 percent.

Come next fall, though, voters may face a different question than the one posed in the poll. There are actually two separate ballot initiatives in the signature gathering phase, and they would do different things.

One would repeal the law passed earlier this year, word for word. That’s what the poll asked about.

The other initiative, which appears to be better funded and might therefore have a better shot at making the ballot, differs slightly from what the poll asked. It would require any new gas tax or vehicle fee increases to be approved by voters – including the ones passed this year.

Nearly 80 percent of voters rate the condition of California’s roads as either fair or poor. But opinions on that question did not prove to be an indicator of support or opposition for the gas tax.