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If you thought our commute times were bad and our freeways were congested before, just wait until after a new bill in the California Legislature becomes law. Democrats in the State Assembly are proposing banning freeway expansion because it's "racist" to expand in communities with minorities — which is large portions of the state.
The bill, A.B. 1778, was passed by the Assembly Transportation Committee this week. If adopted by the full Legislature and signed by Governor Gavin Newsom (D), it would outlaw the construction of new freeway lanes in most of the state. Instead, your tax dollars would be diverted to green energy and “racial equality” projects.
Cristina Garcia, a Los Angeles Democrat and the bill’s author, spoke during the committee meeting and explained that creating new freeways is racist because it displaces low-income residents — who she identifies as minorities.
Carl DeMaio, chairman of Reform California, says the proposal “a ridiculous excuse” to impose punishment on those that drive cars in a desperate attempt to force the usage of public transportation.
“Screaming ‘racism’ at the top of their lungs has worked well in the past for these Democrat politicians and no one has challenged them - so I’m not surprised they are shamefully trying to claim that inanimate objects like freeways are now racist,” DeMaio says.
DeMaio says the absurd claim of racist highways is simply a cover for Democrats to justify the theft of transportation funds.
“California Democrats were all about expanding freeways when they wanted to raise our car and gas taxes - but we know they were lying just to get our money,” DeMaio says. “California Democrats will never expand our freeways because they are trying to impose enough pain on drivers to force them out of their cars,” DeMaio noted.
A.B. 1778 says it is “addressing inequities through environmental justice” because freeways were mapped through black and brown communities after WWII.
The bill targets these areas by using the Healthy Places Index, which depicts areas of the state with lower quality of living. Measurements are based on standards such as healthcare, housing, and education.
However, DeMaio points out that the Healthy Places Index is a flawed way of measuring impact on minorities, as most of the state is rated low on the scale. Only the San Francisco Bay area, Sacramento, and most coastal communities are rated highly.
“Using the Healthy Places Index as your metric, most of the state is not 'healthy,' and that includes regions where there aren't any major freeways for miles,” says Carl DeMaio. "Freeway expansion is needed in the cities not because of racism, but because they're major cities with millions of residents and massive congestion problems."
DeMaio says the real goal of the bill is to attack drivers and get more cars off the road.
“This is just one more thing in the long list of attacks on drivers in the name of forcing usage of public transportation: increasing gas taxes, adding a Mileage Tax, increasing car registration fees, removing driving lanes in favor of bike lanes, and more,” explained DeMaio.
But what can be done to stop this war on cars and drivers?
DeMaio argues that the path forward is to flip key target seats in the November 2022 election throughout the state. That’s why DeMaio and Reform California are working to recruit and support reform-minded candidates for the 2022 elections that will fight to stop these bad bills coming out of Sacramento. Join the campaign today to help flip these key seats.
Join the Fight: Flip Target Seats in California
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