There is a bill pending in the Illinois General Assembly to “suspend” the tax on gasoline for six months. It is expected to pass handily, because of public anger over gas prices and the effect on the upcoming elections.
There are similar proposals floating around in Congress, though nothing as definite as the Illinois bill. And Indiana has already “suspended” its gas tax.
The wise ladies and gentlemen of the Assembly forgot two provisions in their bill that are critical to its success:
a repeal of the laws of nature that steel, aluminum, concrete, and asphalt wear out and
imposition of heavy criminal penalties for anyone or anything (rain, ice, heat, cold, etc.) creating potholes in a public thoroughfare.
Come what may, the roads have to be maintained and repaired, and the money for that comes mostly from gasoline taxes. On the other hand, the most that could be gained from this Illinois bill is a price drop of 10-12 cents per gallon on a price over $2/gallon.
And the press coverage hasn’t pointed this out. Oh, they’ve discussed whether “suspending” the tax will really drop prices and, if so, how much. But none of the stories I’ve read, including the one linked above, mention the revenue effects of “suspending” the gas tax.
I think this is one of the most short-sighted decisions I’ve heard in a long time. What say ye?
P.S.: There’s a reason I put “suspend” in quotes. As the President of the Illinois Senate put it, “How do you go back to your district and say ‘I didn’t take the 5 percent off?’ Be my guest.” Well, the reverse is true: who will want to go back to their constituents and say they voted to restore the gas tax?
Well, in our case, the “Illinois First” program that our beloved Gov. Ryan sponsored should be able to pick up the slack where the gas tax cut leaves off.
Actually though, it is definitely short sighted in that it looks toward do end other than a short term price relief, and everything else be damned. The same folks who back this measure will be bitching sooner or later about why such and such a road hasn’t been fixed yet.
THe problem is not so much the tax as it is the Clinton/Gore administration requesting that oil production be decreased to aid Russia’s oil industry. Supply has been reduced. Only increasing it will help.
But Gas is still relatively cheap. I remember paying this much in 1987. Prices sometimes go up. Buy a fuel efficient car and forget about it.
The reason the Sun-Times story said nothing about the impact on highways is that the state SALES tax has nothing to do with roads. It goes into the state’s general funds.
The separate MOTOR FUEL tax pays for highway repairs and related expenses.
Every story I saw discussed the impact on the state budget with the degree of specificity state officials would provide – ie, very little. They say the $180 million cost will come from surplus revenues and 2 percent cuts in agency’s budgets for travel, office supplies and other operating expenses.
Also, no lawmaker will have to vote to restore the tax. It is automatically reinstated six months from now. Of course, that doesn’t mean lawmakers won’t face lots of pressure to take another vote and repeal the thing permanently.
The bigger question is why officials felt the need to combat rising prices by cutting a tax that hasn’t risen in 10 years. The answer is that they needed to look like they were doing something to help and this was the only thing they could do.
Nah. He just thinks that if the world was full of peaceful honest people, the price of gas would drop to 30c/gallon, bringing an end to the evil of people responding to high gas prices by endeavoring to buy less gas.
What I want the government to do is this and only this: secure from coercion those who have consented to be governed by it.
RT
I suppose it isn’t against the rules per se to badger, mock, and taunt people while contributing nothing to the debate, but I will appeal to you (again) to stop it.
Here in the Great State of California [TM], the base state sales tax rate is 7-and-a-quarter percent, and each county gets to increase this by up to an additional 1% for their own revenues.
“[In California] each county gets to increase this by up to an additional 1% for their own revenues.”
Oh, that’s the case here in Illinois, too. The suspension of the state gasoline tax does nothing to the county and city gasoline taxes, where they exist. The constant reminder of this are the signs on gas stations just across the city line from Chicago: “No Chicago Taxes Here”.