For decades conservatives have advocated scaling back the role of the federal government in transportation, yet the federal gas tax that was supposed to end in 1969 is still hanging around 46 years later. Fortunately, there is a feature of the current law that gives states the the upper hand, and they should seize the opportunity to act.
Most of the federal gas tax is temporary, set to automatically expire. If Congress simply does nothing, the tax will automatically drop from 18.3 cents per gallon on September 30, 2016 to just 4.3 cents the next day and thereafter. (The permanent 4.3 cent tax is Al Gore’s crowning achievement: a vestige of Bill Clinton’s 1993 tax hike that was – try not to laugh – supposed to be dedicated to deficit reduction.)
To allow that date to come and go as scheduled, each state should pass a pick-up law that would take effect if and only if the temporary portion of the federal gas tax lapses.
The pick-up law would replace the lapsed 14 cent federal tax with a lower state gas tax of 8 to 10 cents. Freed of all the strings that come with running money through Washington – most infamously the Davis-Bacon requirements that inflate construction costs – states could easily deliver more while motorists receive a net tax cut.
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DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
3 comments:
Really comical it is to read about these "self proclaimed" civil servants out their crafting our laws in the name of liberty for the benefit of the electorate. This reads more like a comic strip of these bozos who can't resist taxation at every whim to serve their own better interest than to serve the people. Politicians should have their name officially changed to crooks, because that's what they truly are. Wake up America !!!!!
Leave the gas tax alone except put in a lock box that can only be used to repair bridges and roads.
I want a law that gives me control of how these dollars are spent. I'm sick and tired of paying for some study 'to determine if cocaine makes Japanese quail engage in sexually risky behavior'. I'm sick and tired of paying for programs that 'help Pakistani farmers produce more mangos'. And, I'm real, real tired of paying for some 'black budget' that NO ONE has oversight for.
I want a law to stop that BS.
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