States and Federal Government Consider Increasing Gasoline Tax
Jan 14, 2009 – The New York Times reports that some states are making plans to raise gasoline taxes. Included are California, Illinois, Ohio, Massachusetts, Iowa, Oregon, and New Hampshire. The federal government is also contemplating an addition of 10 cents to the current 18.4 cents per gallon tax. This would take away some of the benefit of the recent drop in fuel prices, but would help modify consumers’ attitudes to large vehicles and hybrids while also providing states with funds to fix crumbling infrastructure due to a backlog of projects. The recession is causing states to have less tax revenue for its roads and bridges as well as schools. In addition to the recession causing people to drive less and use less fuel, the law of unintended consequences has resulted in more hybrid cars on the road that use less fuel per mile driven, thus reducing the amount of tax collected for the same amount of miles driven. Please comment and check back for the continuing saga as these proposals are discussed and possibly implemented.
