A ballot amendment up for consideration in California would tax high earners in an effort to streamline the transition to electric vehicles, although it faces some unexpected opposition.
Proposition 30 is one of several questions being posed to voters in the Golden State during this year’s midterm elections. If approved, it would levy a 1.75% tax on personal income of more than $2 million, funds that would be used to subsidize zero-emission vehicle purchases, build out electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and add to wildfire prevention efforts.
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The measure is expected to net between $3 billion and $5 billion annually, drawn from fewer than 43,000 of California’s 39 million residents, according to CBS News.
While the measure would seem like a slam dunk for Democrats in one of the most liberal states in the country, it has a very notable opponent — Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. The governor, bucking his party, has accused the measure of being placed on the ballot only to enrich multibillion-dollar rideshare company Lyft, which has heavily funded support for the measure.
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var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_65766487", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1117682"} }); ","_id":"00000183-e6ea-d2c9-a9e3-f6fabc630000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video Embed“Prop 30 is being advertised as a climate initiative,” Newsom said in an advertisement against the ballot measure. “But in reality, it was devised by a single corporation to funnel state income taxes to benefit their company. Put simply, Prop 30 is a Trojan horse that puts corporate welfare above the fiscal welfare of our entire state.”
Newsom has backed a plan to ban the in-state sale of all gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035 to spur the use of electric vehicles and cut down on environment-harming emissions. Backers of Proposition 30 contend that the measure would help speed up the proliferation of electric vehicles.
The governor has argued that the reason why Lyft is funneling so much money into supporting the proposition is that state regulators have mandated that all rideshare trips be zero emission by 2030 and that the measure would help rideshare drivers purchase electric vehicles and therefore benefit the company.
Lyft, though, said it backs the initiative because it supports helping the climate rather than doing so merely out of blind self-interest.
“Proposition 30 funds this through a tax on individuals who earn more than $2 million a year. I’m fortunate enough to be impacted by this tax and happy to pay it to help turn back the clock on this existential threat,” said Logan Green, the company’s CEO, in a blog post.
Move LA, a public transit advocacy group that helped create the ballot measure, has also pushed back on the assertion that the proposition is a “Trojan horse” organized by Lyft. Denny Zane, the founder of the group, told the Guardian that Lyft was not behind the creation of the proposition and joined after the idea was already devised.
“It’s just false,” Zane said of the notion.
Bill Magavern, the policy director for the Coalition for Clean Air, has accused Newsom of caving to his wealthy donors. Republicans have pushed back on the measure as well.
“You’ve got billionaires and their allies who don’t want to pay their fair share of taxes,” he said.
Much money has been thrown into support and opposition to Proposition 30. Yes on 30, which supports the tax proposal, has raised $47 million, with the vast majority of that money coming directly from Lyft. Meanwhile, No on 30 has raised nearly $15 million in opposition to the measure.
Polling indicates that while the vote on Proposition 30 will be close, more people support the measure than oppose it — although more than 1 in 10 voters are still undecided. A poll conducted by the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley found that 49% support the proposition while just 31% oppose it.
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The electric vehicle proposal isn’t the only big issue on the ballot for California voters. They will also weigh a duo of competing provisions to legalize sports betting — which have become the costliest ballot provisions in the state’s history.
Proposition 26 would permit in-person sports wagers at horse racing tracks and in casinos on tribal land. Proposition 27 would allow California residents to bet through approved sportsbooks online anywhere in the state.
