House Dems Pushing 40% Increase in Gas Tax

House Democrats led by Speaker Pat Bauer spent their 2006 summer vacation in attacking Governor Mitch Daniels for not doing more to address high prices at the gas pump. The governor correctly argued that he can do very little to impact short-term gas prices but has spent much of his time in office focused on developing renewable energy in our state. That wasn't a good enough answer for democrats who kept the attacks up during the final 90 days of the 2006 general election.

Fast forward to the 2008 legislative session and we learn that the House Democrats must think gas is far more affordable today than it was in 2006. House Transportation Committee Chair Terri Austin has introduced HB 1247 to raise the gas tax from $0.18 per gallon to $0.25 per gallon. She also exempts gasoline from the state sales tax, which will surely be the argument that this isn't a tax increase, but as you would expect the state still comes out ahead by as much as $257.9 million dollars when combined with the sales tax increase she also proposes according to the bill's fiscal note.

The real motive of this legislation is to create a stream of revenue that could be used to fund mass transit projects. In advancing this legislation, Rep. Austin has exposed the very problem that Governor Mitch Daniels faced in 2006. At that time the state had transportation needs that totaled over $2 billion. The state could have either tripled the gas tax or leased the operation of the toll road to a private operator. The governor chose to give Hoosiers a break at the pump for the next several years. We're sure that Rep. Austin has sincere motives in advancing this legislation, to help make mass transit a reality in Indiana. We just wish she would have looked to the private sector before she reached in Hoosier's wallets.