Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/805401
ByDonThompsonand Sophia Bollag The Associated Press SACRAMENTO Califor- nia's governor and legis- lative leaders on Wednes- day proposed raising $52 billion to fix the state's roads through a big in- crease in the gasoline tax along with higher car registration fees and a $100 charge on emis- sion-free vehicles. The 10-year plan would boost gasoline ex- cise taxes by 12 cents a gallon — a 43 percent in- crease. The plan also includes a sliding fee on vehicles, with owners of cheaper vehicles paying less. For the first time, own- ers of zero emission vehi- cles would pay a $100 an- nual fee, since they use public roads but don't pay gasoline taxes. The gas tax increase would be the largest in state history and would increase over time, As- sembly and Senate Re- publicans said in oppos- ing the plan. "Yes, it costs money. And if the roof in your house is leaking, you bet- ter fix it, because it gets worse all the time," Gov. Jerry Brown said at a Capitol news conference. "This is mostly about fixing what we already have. If for some reason people try to fight this, and God help us if they were successful, they won't defeat this, they'll just delay it and make the expenses go up." The proposal includes a constitutional amend- ment requiring that the money be spent only on transportation proj- ects, and it would cre- ate an inspector general to make sure money isn't misspent. Critics have long com- plained that money raised by transportation taxes has been siphoned off for other uses, some- thing the constitutional amendment is designed to prevent. Republican lawmakers renewed that objection in a joint state- ment arguing that Cali- fornia already collects enough money if only it is spent on the right proj- ects. "Californians already pay some of the highest gas taxes in the nation," Republican lawmak- ers said in a joint state- ment, calling the Demo- crats' proposal a "costly and burdensome plan that forces ordinary Cal- ifornians to bail out Sac- ramento for years of ne- glecting our roads." The Democratic gov- ernor has said Califor- nia has $59 billion in de- ferred maintenance on state highways and $78 billion on local streets and roads. Last month he suggested tax increases may be required to ad- dress the problem. He has set an April 6 goal for the Legislature to pass a transportation funding package. Brown, Senate Pro Tem Kevin de Leon and Assembly Speaker An- thony Rendon were set to unveil the package at the Capitol. It's the third time Brown has attempted to address the multibillion- dollar backlog in trans- portation repairs and upgrades through tax increases. Brown's pre- vious plans and others calling for tax increases have repeatedly stalled in the Legislature, with Republicans and moder- ate Democrats reluctant to back the higher taxes. Democrats control enough seats for the pro- posal to pass the Assem- bly and Senate with the two-thirds majority re- quired for tax increases. Brown will need nearly all of them unless he can pick up support from Re- publicans, who have op- posed raising taxes to pay for road construc- tion. The Assembly will be particularly challeng- ing. A number of Dem- ocrats eked out wins in the November election and could be vulnerable in the next campaign if they vote to raise taxes. Moderate Democrats, many from inland dis- tricts where voters are generally poorer and face long commutes to work, may be concerned about raising gas prices. "We can no longer af- ford to ignore our crum- bling and limited pub- lic transportation in- frastructure," Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat from San Francisco, said in a statement. He praised the agreement for in- creasing money for pub- lic transportation, but said public transit needs even more money. In the new proposal: • The gasoline tax would raise $24.4 billion over 10 years. • The state's current 16-cent-a-gallon diesel excise tax would climb by 20 cents — a 125 percent increase. It would raise $7.3 billion over 10 years. • An increase in the diesel sales tax would raise $3.5 billion over 10 years. • The sliding vehicle fee is similar to what owners already pay an- nually to the state De- partment of Motor Ve- hicles. It is projected to raise $16.3 billion. • The $100 annual fee on zero emission vehicles would start in 2020 and raise $200 million PROPOSAL Gastaxhikefunds$52B plan to fix California roads By Sudhin Thanawala and Andrew Dalton The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO A federal appeals court on Wednes- day barred the release of videos made by an anti- abortion group whose leaders are facing felony charges in California accus- ing them of recording peo- ple without permission in violation of state law. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling blocking the recordings made by the Center for Medical Prog- ress at meetings of the Na- tional Abortion Federation, an association of abortion providers. The Center for Medi- cal Progress previously re- leased several secretly re- corded videos that it says show Planned Parenthood employees selling fetal tis- sue for profit, which is il- legal. Planned Parenthood said the videos were de- ceptively edited to support false claims. The videos stoked the American abortion debate when they were released in 2015 and increased Con- gressional heat against Planned Parenthood that has yet to subside. It's not clear what's on the bulk of the recordings the group made at National Abortion Federation meet- ings. A leader of the Cen- ter for Medical Progress, David Daleiden, said in a statement that the 9th Cir- cuit was preventing the re- lease of footage of Planned Parenthood leadership dis- cussing criminal conduct at the meetings and its ruling was an attack on the First Amendment. "CMP will continue to fight this unconstitutional abuse of power and vindi- cate our First Amendment rights and those of all cit- izen journalists to speak and publish on matters of urgent public concern," Da- leiden said. The 9th Circuit noted in its decision that U.S. Dis- trict Judge William Orrick had reviewed the National Abortion Federation foot- age and found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing. The court affirmed the judge's decision that the Center for Medical Progress waived any First Amend- ment right to release the videos by signing confiden- tiality agreements with the federation that barred re- cordings of its meetings or the disclosure of any infor- mation obtained there. The National Abortion Federation argued that re- lease of the videos would endanger its members. "There's no denying that the smear campaign launched by the defendants has put abortion providers at risk, and we are grate- ful that the Ninth Circuit affirmed our preliminary injunction," said Vicki Sa- porta, National Abortion Federation president and CEO. California's new Attor- ney General Xavier Becerra filed 15 felony counts each against Daleiden and San- dra Merritt, another leader of the Center of Medical Progress, saying they made recordings without the con- sent of the people in them in violation of state law. Some of the charges filed Tuesday stem from the re- cordings at National Abor- tion Federation meetings. Becerra, a longtime con- gressional Democrat who took over the investigation in January, said in a state- ment that the state "will not tolerate the criminal record- ing of conversations." PLANNED PARENTHOOD The Associated Press SANTAANA California's at- torney general will continue to seek the death penalty for a man who killed eight people in a shooting ram- page at a hair salon and whose sentencing has been delayed by a long-running scandal over the use of jail- house informants. Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced the de- cision Wednesday, saying the murders in the tight- knit seaside town of Seal Beach in 2011 "caused so much harm to far too many families." Scott Dekraai pleaded guilty to the killings. The now-47-year-old former tug- boat operator who killed his hairstylist ex-wife and seven others during the on- slaught is due to appear in court Thursday. Orange County's dis- trict attorney had been seeking the death pen- alty for Dekraai but was yanked from the case after Dekraai's attorney learned that a jailhouse snitch had been chatting with his cli- ent even though he had a lawyer. The discovery led to a broader probe of Orange County's use of jailhouse in- formants and a federal in- vestigation. It also delayed the sen- tencing of Dekraai even though he pleaded guilty in 2014. Dekraai's lawyer Scott Sanders has long argued that his client shouldn't face the death penalty due to the misuse of informants and prosecutors' failure to turn over required evidence. On Wednesday, he said he was disappointed in the state's decision and would fight it. "We will be bringing ad- ditional motions that based upon the egregious miscon- duct the death penalty must be dismissed," Sanders said. Dekraai had been locked in a bitter custody dis- pute with ex-wife Michelle Fournier over their 8-year- old son when he entered Sa- lon Meritage in Seal Beach in October 2011 wearing a bulletproof vest and armed with three weapons. He shot and killed Fournier before turning his guns on the salon owner, stylists and customers and a man who was sitting in his car in the parking lot. Police arrested Dekraai within minutes of the ram- page that killed eight and wounded one. RAMPAGE St at e wi ll se ek d ea th p en al ty f or s al on k il le r PATSULLIVAN—THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE David Robert Daleiden, right, leaves a courtroom a er a hearing in Houston. Court bars release of videos made by anti-abortion group By Christopher Weber The Associated Press LOS ANGELES A physician who came to the U.S. from Pakistan will join the 2018 race for California lieuten- ant governor Wednesday, promising to run on his Muslim faith, immigrant past and career in medi- cine. Dr. Asif Mahmood plans to kick off his candidacy outside the headquarters of U.S. Immigration and Cus- toms Enforcement in down- town Los Angeles. The pulmonologist said his status as a Californian, a Muslim and an immigrant makes him a "triple threat" to fight what he calls Pres- ident Donald Trump's "dis- criminatory attacks" on for- eigners seeking a better life in the U.S. "I want to tell him: Get tough on hate. Stop bash- ing on immigrants, on peo- ple of color, on Muslims," Mahmood, 56, told The As- sociated Press in an inter- view ahead of his official announcement. "That is not America." Born in a small, rural vil- lage in Pakistan, Mahmood moved to Kentucky in the 1990s to complete medical school. He moved to Southern California in 2000 and lives near Los Angeles with his wife and three teenage chil- dren. He said his experience running a medical practice and volunteering at free clinics that treat poor popu- lations gave him the creden- tials to campaign for health care reform. As a first-time candidate, Mahmood's challenge is to build a statewide coalition, potentially anchored to civil rights. He starts as a virtual un- known. Muslims make up a tiny percentage of people living in California. To be competitive and grow beyond a niche candi- dacy, he must craft a mes- sage that resonates with the large, diverse pool of voters in a state that is home to 1 of every 8 Americans. Mahmood, a Democrat, said he did not think his re- ligion would be an obsta- cle in California, a state known for diversity that he credits for allowing him to flourish. "I am a proud Muslim and a proud American," he said. Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, the incumbent, is barred by term limits from seeking a third term and is running for governor. POLITICS Muslim immigrant to join California lieutenant governor race | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2017 4 B