Transportation: Funding. Legislative Constitutional Amendment.
	Argument in Favor of Proposition 2

PROTECT OUR TRANSPORTATION FUNDS

Proposition 2 is your opportunity to protect California's highways and public transit systems. When the people voted earlier in this decade to provide additional fuel tax money for transportation, voters were told the funds would be earmarked in the State Constitution for the maintenance and construction of roads and public transit systems. Unfortunately, in recent years elected officials and bureaucrats have found ways to siphon more than a billion dollars of these funds into other government programs. PROPOSITION 2 WILL STOP THAT!

Your YES vote on Proposition 2 will mean:

Improved Highway Safety and Maintenance

• Bad roads cost the average Californian $144 a year in additional auto repairs.
• The percentage of roads in poor condition in California has doubled in this decade.
• The number of structurally deficient bridges has increased 45 percent in five years.
• More than 60 percent of our bridges are over thirty years old--the age when they require major repairs to remain structurally sound.
• Funding for road and bridge improvements has lagged 30 percent behind goals specified in the State Transportation Blueprint approved by the voters in 1990.

Traffic Congestion Relief

• Highway travel is increasing at a rate ten times faster than new capacity has been added in the 1980s and '90s, so we must complete critical segments of our road system to meet this need.
• Travel on urban highways has increased 34 percent in the past ten years.
• In California, 49 percent of urban highways are now seriously congested.
• Crushing commuter loads and air quality concerns require an expansion of public transit.

California's transportation system is the backbone of our state's economy. We depend on highways to get us to our jobs, our homes, our schools and for our fire, police, and other emergency service vehicles. Traffic congestion and bad roads hurt our economy by wasting our time, delaying freight, damaging our vehicles, and increasing pollution. Public transit is particularly critical in providing commuter transportation for employees without cars, and to give our elderly and handicapped citizens equal access.

Proposition 2 will prevent the Governor and the Legislature from borrowing transportation funds for other purposes except in specified economic emergencies. And it requires a prompt payback when they do borrow. PROPOSITION 2 WILL RESTORE FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY TO CALIFORNIA'S TRANSPORTATION TRUST FUNDS.

That's why Proposition 2 is supported by these organizations:

California Taxpayers' Association
State Federation of Labor
California Alliance for Jobs
League of California Cities
California Chamber of Commerce
California Manufacturers Association
Transportation California
California State Association of Counties
California Transit Association
Amalgamated Transit Union--AFL-CIO
California Trucking Association
California Coalition for Environmental and Economic Balance

Proposition 2 will make sure your fuel tax dollars go where you voted for them to go. Good roads and public transit make a vital contribution to our quality of life. Keep California going in the right direction by voting YES on Proposition 2.

KEVIN MURRAY
Assembly Transportation Committee Chair ALLAN ZAREMBERG
California Chamber of Commerce President DONALD R. DOSER
AFL-CIO Operating Engineers Business Manager