Gas pump image via wikipedia user Anthony Inswasty

Republican gubernatorial candidate John Cox will host a petition drive this afternoon in Fresno seeking a ballot initiative to repeal California’s gas tax increase.

Cox, honorary chairman of the “STOP THE GAS TAX” campaign, and Trevor Carey, host of talk radio’s The Trevor Carey Show on PowerTalk 96.7 FM and AM 1400, will kick off the event with speeches starting at 2:30 p.m. in front of A to Z Insurance, 1209 E. Shaw Ave.

Some local politicians are expected to attend the event.

A petition-signing drive will follow the speeches, from 3-6 p.m.

“The signature drive officially begun, and petitions will be distributed to kick off the campaign to repeal the gas tax which will cost most California families $700 or more per year,” states a press release for the event.

Earlier this year, state legislators approved a 12.5-cent tax for standard fuel and a 20-cent tax for diesel fuel to increase funding to maintain, repair and upgrade California roads.

A tax already existed to fund road work, but due to increased gas efficiency in cars, along with the expanding use of hybrid and electric cars, that funding has declined in recent years, sparking a successful effort to create an additional gas tax.

“The money robbed from California families will be wasted by the California Department of Transportation, one of the worst-run bureaucracies in the country,” Cox — the current frontrunner among Republican candidates for governor — wrote in an October San Francisco Chronicle editorial.

“This enormous tax at the gas pump, along with the special-interest-driven cap-and-trade tax and huge increase in the vehicle license fee, together constitute an enormous, regressive tax increase. These taxes hit the working poor particularly hard, forcing families to choose between gas in the tank to get to work, or rent, or food on the table,” the editorial continued.

Supporters of the ballot initiative need more than 584,000 signatures from registered California voters for it to be included on the November 2018 ballot. There is an April 24, 2018 deadline to file petitions with county elections officials.

Several other petition drives are planned this month throughout the state.