Little-Acorn
Gold Member
I couldn't believe this when I first saw it. A state government is actually ACKNOWLEDGING one of the sources of the high prices for gasoline nowadays: TAXES. And they are even proposing to do something about it: repeal those taxes. At least for a short time. Naturally, liberals in the state Senate are doing their best to block it.
But as government proposals go, this is earth-shaking. It's the most flatly conservative act I've seen from any government, since the Reagan tax cuts. Should bve interesting to see what happens in three months. Will the people meekly accept a $.20/gal tax increase once this repeal expires? Or might we see a little bit of popular revolt?
People have been complaining about the oil companies making around $.10/gal on every gallon of gas they sell. That money goes mainly to stockholders - people with oil company stocks in their retirement funds, etc. Well, apparently the state of Texas currently adds $.20 to the price of each gallon, as taxes. The Fed govt does about the same.
Nice to see someone finally acknowledging that the charges of "unfair" may have been directed at the wrong people.
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/4787591.html
May 9, 2007, 4:38PM
Drivers could get a gas-tax vacation
Texas House votes to halt 20-cent levy for 90 days, but Senate isn't yet sold
By GARY SCHARRER
AUSTIN With pump prices surging toward $3 and possibly beyond this summer, the Texas House voted by a wide margin Tuesday to temporarily save motorists 20 cents a gallon every time they fuel up.
Call it "tax-free gas" for the summer driving season, Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, said after the House tentatively approved his amendment 118-16.
But don't spend that savings just yet.
State senators also must vote for the measure before it can land on Gov. Rick Perry's desk. And they don't seem quite as enthusiastic.
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said the suspension of the gasoline tax isn't a done deal, "particularly at a time when we're trying to find more resources to build highways and reduce congestion."
But Martinez Fischer remained optimistic the Senate will bow to Texans growing increasingly weary of higher gas prices.
"My constituents are saying, 'Gas is too high,' and I imagine the Senate is hearing from the same constituents," he said.
His amendment to a gas-tax collection bill would repeal the state's gasoline tax for 90 days, which would cost Texas an estimated $500 million to $700 million toward highway construction and public education. But the proposal would make up for it by sapping the $8 billion budget surplus, currently split almost evenly between money set aside for future school property tax cuts and the state's Rainy Day fund.
"That fund goes to times when we are in crisis and, right now, with gas prices through the roof, there is a crisis," Martinez Fischer said. "The last time I checked, that money belongs to the people of Texas."
But as government proposals go, this is earth-shaking. It's the most flatly conservative act I've seen from any government, since the Reagan tax cuts. Should bve interesting to see what happens in three months. Will the people meekly accept a $.20/gal tax increase once this repeal expires? Or might we see a little bit of popular revolt?
People have been complaining about the oil companies making around $.10/gal on every gallon of gas they sell. That money goes mainly to stockholders - people with oil company stocks in their retirement funds, etc. Well, apparently the state of Texas currently adds $.20 to the price of each gallon, as taxes. The Fed govt does about the same.
Nice to see someone finally acknowledging that the charges of "unfair" may have been directed at the wrong people.
-------------------------------------------------------
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/4787591.html
May 9, 2007, 4:38PM
Drivers could get a gas-tax vacation
Texas House votes to halt 20-cent levy for 90 days, but Senate isn't yet sold
By GARY SCHARRER
AUSTIN With pump prices surging toward $3 and possibly beyond this summer, the Texas House voted by a wide margin Tuesday to temporarily save motorists 20 cents a gallon every time they fuel up.
Call it "tax-free gas" for the summer driving season, Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, said after the House tentatively approved his amendment 118-16.
But don't spend that savings just yet.
State senators also must vote for the measure before it can land on Gov. Rick Perry's desk. And they don't seem quite as enthusiastic.
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said the suspension of the gasoline tax isn't a done deal, "particularly at a time when we're trying to find more resources to build highways and reduce congestion."
But Martinez Fischer remained optimistic the Senate will bow to Texans growing increasingly weary of higher gas prices.
"My constituents are saying, 'Gas is too high,' and I imagine the Senate is hearing from the same constituents," he said.
His amendment to a gas-tax collection bill would repeal the state's gasoline tax for 90 days, which would cost Texas an estimated $500 million to $700 million toward highway construction and public education. But the proposal would make up for it by sapping the $8 billion budget surplus, currently split almost evenly between money set aside for future school property tax cuts and the state's Rainy Day fund.
"That fund goes to times when we are in crisis and, right now, with gas prices through the roof, there is a crisis," Martinez Fischer said. "The last time I checked, that money belongs to the people of Texas."
