Auto Club supports Measure R

The Automobile Club of Southern California has decided to support Measure R, the proposal to raise the sales tax by a half-cent in Los Angeles County to pay for more mass transit and road projects, according to AAA. It's a big endorsement for the effort because of the club's reach -- it has more than 6 million members -- and obvious interest in car travel.

Steve Finnegan, the club's government affairs manager, said that the club has supported several sales tax measures in different counties. "Transportation issues clearly need additional resources and sales taxes have proven to be a reliable locally controlled source for those priorities," he said.

The spending plan for Measure R devotes about $13.8 billion of expected sales tax revenues to mass transit and about $7.9 billion to highway improvements, plus another $5.9 billion being returned to local cities -- much of which will presumably be spent on street projects. Finnegan said that the Auto Club's support was conditioned on the Metro board guaranteeing that 20% of revenues would go to highways, as well as other oversight provisions.

He also added, "Measure R isn't perfect, but it's needed to keep us moving into the future." As for how much, if any, money the Auto Club may spend on the sales campaign, Finnegan said that has yet to be determined.

Measure R is on the ballot, but the election is not official until Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signs AB 2321, a bill authorizing the election. Schwarzenegger has threatened not to sign most bills until the Legislature has settled the state's $15-billion budget deficit.

-- Steve Hymon