Lawmakers eye 7-cent gas tax hike, fees on hybrid and electric vehicles to plug highway fund

[jpak]

Source: Kennebec Journal

AUGUSTA — Lawmakers seeking ways to plug a hole in the state’s highway maintenance budget are considering measures that would raise the state’s gas tax by 7 cents a gallon and place an annual surcharge on hybrid and electric vehicles.

Members of the Legislature’s transportation committee heard hours of testimony Tuesday from transportation advocates and trade groups in favor of increasing fees and taxes to improve the state’s deteriorating infrastructure, and from environmental groups opposed to imposing a punitive charge on owners of alternative fuel vehicles.

State officials predict the state’s highway fund, which pays for the maintenance of roads and bridges, will have an annual shortfall of $159 million from 2017 to 2019, out of a $375 million annual goal. The Department of Transportation expects to receive $100 million in general obligation bonds annually to help cover those costs.

Borrowing every year just to pay for regular maintenance isn’t a sustainable path forward for the state, said Rep. Andrew McLean, D-Gorham, House chairman of the joint transportation committee.

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Read more: http://www.centralmaine.com/2017/04/11/lawmakers-consider-7-cent-increase-on-gas-tax-and-surcharges-on-hybrid-vehicles-to-sustain-highway-fund/

[BumRushDaShow]

1. Here in PA

we are paying 76.4 cents per gallon in taxes (including the federal gas tax). Urgggg....

[bluestarone]

2. Hi-way fund?

Or WALL fund

[GP6971]

3. Great...penalize

hybrid and electric vehicle owners for doing the right thing.

[Quackers]

4. It's not penalizing them, it's having them contribute to the maintenance cost

Of the roads they use. I'm ok with that.

[CatWoman]

8. Something is not right here

as it is, you can purchase a "Peach Pass" in order to use certain lanes on some stretches of the highway.

Republican run states are not run very well.

And I agree with the poster you responded to.

Maybe if these guys stop wasting money and giving handouts to their friends, etc., they wouldn't have to keep trying to fleece the public they are supposed to be serving.

[LanternWaste]

11. Infrastructure must be maintained...

Infrastructure must be maintained, regardless of whether the vehicle driving on it is electric or gas.

If we arrive at the point in which 90% of all cars on the road are electric, do we still rely only on gas taxes to keep the roads in working order?

[Yo_Mama]

12. This must be done - currently they are not paying for the upkeep of the roads.

If we all did the "right thing", that would remove the funding from the roads, and then our environmentally correct vehicles would not be very useful to us, would they?

Every state needs to do this.

Note: I'm strongly in favor of environmentally positive measures, but that doesn't mean we won't need roads! And if we need them, we have to have a way to pay for them.

[jmowreader]

5. They need to write this law VERY tightly

ALL this money needs to go to road and bridge maintenance and NONE of it should be used to fund cuts in other taxes. You know what the hell will happen if they don't do that: some fucking Republican will decide that all tax increases should be "revenue neutral" and they'll have to immediately cut business taxes to compensate for this.

[Yo_Mama]

14. Yes, one of the problems is that the current gas taxes aren't all used for the roads!

I think most people understand that roads don't magically appear, but it is very frustrating to have these taxes imposed and then diverted to other uses.

[truthisfreedom]

6. Because of their decreased impact on the environment, ALL-electric cars (Teslas) should not be taxed

at all. They cost a premium to begin with, and the environmental and societal benefits of all-electric vehicles are dramatically higher than any gas-guzzlers or hybrids (which still use gas).

[Hassin Bin Sober]

10. Sooner or later electric cars will have to be taxed.

But we aren't even close to that, imo

Too soon to stifle innovation

[Yo_Mama]

13. Sure they should. Gas is taxed to pay for the roads. Electric vehicles still need the roads.

Adding something on to the registration fees or an annual surcharge to pay for the roads is a measure to maintain the road system, rather than to "punish" electric car owners.

As these vehicles become more predominant, every state must do this.

[hack89]

16. They still have an impact on infrastructure.

infrastructure that requires money to maintain it.

[Bengus81]

7. Just watch where it goes....

We pay State fuel tax of 24.03 cents per gallon here in Kansas and yet KDOT has cancelled 20-25 bids for major road projects in 2017. Why? Because Brownback has RAIDED the highway fund for YEARS to pay for his signature ZERO percent State income tax rate for Corporations,LLC's,S Corps,Rentals.

We get pot hole riddled roads and then the shops that fix your torn up suspension pay ZERO taxes on the cash you hand them. This is what FOOLS get when they vote endlessly for Republicans. Right now Dem James Thompson is ahead of Estes for that empty House seat in Kansas but it's getting tighter and tighter. Not sure he'll win.

[CatWoman]

9. damn right

btw -- Estes won.

[ripcord]

15. California just did this

Gas taxes were raised 12 cents a gallon tied to inflation, increased fees on electric vehicles and increased vehicle license fees. I have no problem paying for the upkeep on the roads but the transportation fund keeps getting raided and over the last 5 years the budget has increased by $36 billion and none of it went to transportation. We have already paid once, paying again hurts, especially when it is going to put our gas prices even higher than those in Hawaii.

[Grins]

17. $.07???? Pikers

New Jersey, after years of Republicans diverting money collected for transportation to general obligations to justify tax cuts, just raised gas taxes a whopping $.35/gallon to pay for highways and neglected infrastructure!! Five times that of Maine.

Still, congratulations, Maine. You did the right thing. Of course - it's a Democratic thing, but good for you anyway.

[JCMach1]

18. No, they shouldn't for the same reason we didn't put sales tax on internet sales for many years

In fact, we should do absolutely the opposite... raise the gas tax to meet the infrastructure needs as a way to continue encouraging people to switch.

Anything else is misguided libertarianism and full-stop bad for the environment and health of our citizens.