Coalition of “EVERYONE” Launches No on 10 Campaign

Opponents pointed out that after interstate trucking companies collect their $50,000 Prop 10 California rebates for every natural gas powered truck purchased, they can relocate these trucks out of state and sell their old “dirty” trucks to California truckers who will keep on polluting our air.

Prop 10 excludes hybrids from its definition of a “clean” vehicle. A purchaser of a natural gas powered car would receive a $10,000 state rebate while a hybrid Prius with an identical California clean vehicle rating receives only a $2,000 rebate – even though hybrids are a cheaper technology already making substantial inroads into the marketplace.

California’s leading business and taxpayer organizations have also joined the chorus of opposition to Prop 10. It misuses billions in bonds to fund tax giveaways to profitable trucking companies and to enrich the billionaire who is bankrolling the “Yes” campaign. Bonds are traditionally designed for long term capital improvements such as building schools and hospitals, not to subsidize trucking companies and individuals to purchase vehicles that will become scrap metal long before the 30 years of bond payments end.

“The last thing the taxpayers of California need is for the state government to saddle them with more debt, but that’s exactly what Proposition 10 would do,” said David Kline of the non-partisan California Taxpayers’ Association. “Proposition 10 would commit the taxpayers to an average payment of $335 million per year for the next 30 years, and would cost $5 billion in interest alone.”

“We are supportive of alternative fuels and renewable energy,” said Kris Rosa, Silicon Valley Leadership Group. “But Prop 10 is an inappropriate mechanism to incentivize action in this area. Bonds are designed for long term capital improvements, not short-term subsidies.”

Proposition 10 has yet to earn the endorsement of a single newspaper editorial board or independent environmental group. Meanwhile, the coalition opposing it continues to expand, including: the League of Women Voters, the California Chamber of Commerce, the California Labor Federation, the California Nurses Association, the California Federation of Teachers, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, Consumer Watchdog, TURN, California Church IMPACT, California Tax Reform Association, the Latino Issues Forum, the California Farm Bureau Federation and the California Manufacturers and Technology Association among many others.

Learn more at: www.stopprop10.org

The Consumer Federation of California is a non-profit advocacy organization. Since 1960, the Consumer Federation of California has been a powerful voice for consumer rights. CFC campaigns for state and federal laws that place consumer protection ahead of corporate profit. Each year, CFC testifies before the California legislature on dozens of bills that affect millions of our state's consumers. CFC also appears before state agencies in support of consumer regulations.