It's a bid day here on the John and Ken show - the first shot has been fired in the war over California's recent increases on the gas tax and vehicle registration fees. At least 830,000 signatures for an initiative to appear on the November ballot have been collected and are ready to be turned in Republican activists said Wednesday.
They need at least 585,407 signatures of registered voters to qualify the issue for the ballot in November and thanks to dozens of volunteers who fanned out across California over the last few months, they got them. Activists say they hope to collect at least 900,000 before they are turned into the counties on Friday.
Carl DeMaio, a radio host at KOGO in San Diego, and organizer of the driver said it was a victory for the people in California.
"The politicians and special interests in Sacramento never thought we'd raise the funds or build the statewide organization to qualify the Gas Tax Repeal Initiative, but today we will announce the final tally of signatures. If our signature drive is any indication of the intensity and breadth of the opposition to car and gas tax hikes, politicians better stop spending this money because they will have to return it very soon to the working families of this state."
The initiative targets a recent 12-cent per gallon increase in California's gas tax, and a 20-cent increase in the diesel fuel tax. A new annual vehicle fee was also added, which ranged from $25 for cars valued under $5,000 to $175 for cars worth $60,000 or more.
With gas prices already at their highest amount since August of 2015, Republicans say they believe this issue will help their candidates for office in November.
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