DeMaio leads fight to block new California Mileage Tax (AB 1421)

Assemblyman Carl DeMaio said he will lead a fight on the floor of the State Assembly to kill AB 1421 – a bill Democrats are trying to advance to impose a costly new mileage tax on all state drivers.

“Imposing a mileage tax on all drivers is an outrageous money grab by state politicians, and it will crush working families who already are struggling in the middle of California’s cost-of-living crisis,” DeMaio said.

The California mileage tax proposal would require tracking every driver’s mileage and charging them a tax per mile they drive.

DeMaio has been fighting the mileage tax concept for years — ever since California Democrats first put a mileage tax into SB-1 in 2017, when they enacted massive gas and car tax hikes.

In 2023, DeMaio successfully led a campaign to repeal a local mileage tax program in San Diego County. Local politicians had voted to impose a mileage tax in their Regional Transportation Plan, but DeMaio led a public revolt against politicians who backed the plan, and a vote was hastily called to remove the mileage tax from the plan.

AB 1421 proposes to impose a statewide mileage tax. While AB 1421 does not trigger immediate imposition of the tax at this time, the bill directs the state government to advance implementation of a mileage tax program and to return to the legislature with recommendations on how much tax to charge and how to collect it.

Here’s how much the California mileage tax will cost
Based on the San Diego County mileage tax proposal, DeMaio said he expects the California mileage tax proposal would require tracking every driver’s mileage and charging them six to nine cents per mile they drive.

That is the equivalent of a spike in the gas tax of between 87 cents and $1.15 per gallon of gas.

“The typical California driver with an average drive of 15,000 miles a year will be forced to pay $900-$1200 a year in mileage taxes just to drive on poorly maintained freeways they already paid for with the original gas and sales taxes,” said DeMaio.

When you add the new mileage tax to the existing gas tax and car tax, DeMaio said the typical two-car family will end up paying more than $4,200 in taxes a year for just the privilege of driving in California – not including the cost of the car itself.

About Carl DeMaio
California State Assemblymember Carl DeMaio is a member of the California State Assembly representing District 75 which includes the communities of Fallbrook, Bonsall, Valley Center, Ramona, Poway, Scripps Ranch, Santee, Lakeside, Alpine, Julian, Borrego Springs, Pala, Jamul, Pine Valley, Pauma Valley and Bonita.