An effort is underway to repeal California’s gas tax hike via the ballot box.

Assemblyman Travis Allen, R-Huntington Beach, filed paperwork last week seeking a 2018 ballot measure to overturn SB 1, a 10-year, $52.4 billion transportation funding bill narrowly passed by the Legislature in April.

The bill, also known as the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, raises the state’s gas tax by 12 cents a gallon, boosts taxes on diesel fuel and imposes new annual fees on vehicles to tackle a road repair backlog exceeding $130 billion.

Gov. Jerry Brown and the legislature’s Democratic leadership campaigned aggressively for SB 1, calling it a vital step in fixing California’s pothole-plagued roads. The bill barely cleared the two-thirds threshold needed to approve tax hikes.

The proposed ballot measure would repeal SB 1 in its entirety, said Allen, an assemblyman since 2012 who represents communities in north Orange County.

“I’ve seen a lot of crazy laws come through that were pushed by Jerry Brown,” said Allen, who, like every other GOP assembly member, voted against SB 1.

“But when … Jerry Brown tried to pass the largest gas tax increase in California history without a vote of the people, I decided that something had to be done.”

The measure is “truly a grassroots initiative,” Allen added.

The governor’s press office declined to comment.

Like other Republicans, Allen argues the state has been siphoning off money for transportation needs and that tax hikes aren’t needed to fix roads.

The Fix Our Roads coalition, a group of business, labor and transportation groups, opposes the measure, noting voters will have a chance to pass a constitutional amendment guaranteeing SB 1 money will pay for transportation needs.

“Californians are tired of driving on potholed, unsafe roads, stuck in traffic,” read a statement from the coalition. “ … It’s hard to view this initiative as anything more than the same old obstructionist politics that Californians are tired of.”

The measure must clear several hurdles before it makes the ballot. Allen submitted paperwork to the state attorney general’s office, which must give the measure a title and summary by July 10.

Once that happens and the secretary of state’s office establishes deadlines and takes other steps, the measure’s supporters have 180 days to gather 365,880 voter signatures. It would make the November 2018 ballot as long as it qualifies at least 131 days before that election.

A website, www.nocagastax.com, has been set up for the public to donate to pay for the signature packets needed to bring the measure before voters.

The office of Attorney General Xavier Becerra, a Democrat, will likely write summary language “to make (the measure) as unpalatable to voters as possible,” said Rob Pyers, research director for the nonpartisan California Target Book, which studies campaign finance data and California politics.

“Once it clears the first hurdle, the real barometer will be if there’s any financial support for it to begin the likely multi-million effort to collect the 365,880 required signatures,” he said.

Pyers noted a recall effort is underway to oust state Sen. Josh Newman, D-Fullerton. The loss of one Democratic senator would cost Democrats their two-thirds senate supermajority, making it much easier for Republicans to fight tax hikes.

“I think we’ll get a better feel for how confident Republicans are about weaponizing the SB 1 vote in the coming weeks if we start to see real money popping up” to support the recall or Allen’s measure, Pyers said.

GAS TAX REPEAL

What: Assemblyman Travis Allen, R-Huntington Beach, is trying to get a measure on the 2018 ballot to repeal legislation that raises California’s gas tax to pay for road repairs.

What’s Next: The attorney general’s office needs to give the measure a title and summary. After that, organizers need 365,880 voter signatures to qualify the measure.

Website: www.nocagastax.com