Starting this week, you’ll spend a couple extra bucks to fill up your gas tank — a spurt of inflation that some Republicans hope will power their party’s comeback in California.
The first installment on a massive $52 billion spending bill, passed in Sacramento last spring, came due on November 1, as the state imposed at the pump a 12-cents-a-gallon increase in the gasoline excise tax.
As it did, a coalition of conservatives launched a referendum campaign to repeal the tax, along with the rest of Senate Bill 1. The measure authorizes a decade’s worth of higher transportation taxes and fees, not only on gas but also on vehicle registrations and diesel fuel.