The bullet train is saved.
Via Breitbart:
Both houses of the California legislature passed a 12-cent gasoline tax hike on Thursday, meeting Governor Jerry Brown’s deadline to provide an estimated $52 billion in new revenues, ostensibly for transportation infrastructure.
The bill, which also raises Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) fees, barely reached the two-thirds majority needed to raise taxes in both the State Assembly and the State Senate. Passage marks a huge political victory for Gov. Brown, who is in his fourth and final term as governor. The political consequences for legislators, however, have yet to be seen, as voters have not yet felt the pinch of a tax hike that, critics say, will hit rural and working-class Californians hardest.[…]
In the State Senate, the vote was only slightly more favorable to the governor. He lost the support of State Sen. Steve Glazer (D-Orinda), a moderate Democrat who was the only member of his party to vote against the bill. In a statement reported by the East Bay Times, Glazer wondered why new taxes were necessary rather than diverting funds from the California High-Speed Rail boondoggle. But Gov. Brown gained an ally in the one Republican to vote for the new tax hike, State Sen. Anthony Canella (R-Ceres), who supported the measure in exchange for a project in his district, according to yourcentralvalley.com.