California drivers need bureaucratic reform, not still higher taxes SACRAMENTO – On the 75th day of the transportation special session, Assemblyman Brian Dahle, R-Bieber, and his fellow Assembly Republicans are calling on the Democrats to stop their push for still more taxes and fees on already strapped California drivers and instead fast-track the Assembly Republican plan to fix California’s roads. The Republican roadmap is stuck in legislative gridlock while Democrats hold partisan press conferences around the state, the latest of which took place in Fresno on Friday. The 9-point plan, unveiled by Assembly Republicans on June 29, would generate $6.6 billion in annual funding for roads and highways without new taxes. The Assembly GOP plan is the only comprehensive transportation funding plan on the table. It was endorsed on Friday by former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. “California’s drivers already pay among the nation’s highest fuel taxes, including new cap-and-trade charges that took effect this year, but suffer some of America’s worst maintained roads,” Dahle said. “The Republican plan would use existing funds and streamline California’s costly bureaucratic system to ensure taxpayers get their money’s worth.” Today marks 75 days since the special legislative session on transportation first convened. During that time, Assembly Democrats have held partisan events in the Bay Area, Fresno, Los Angeles, and San Diego. Meanwhile, they have not presented a comprehensive plan on how to fully fund California’s transportation needs. Despite a $4 billion surplus and a record state budget, Democrats failed to make transportation a budget priority this year.