Call to Action: Repeal Idaho’s Gas Tax

Wasn’t the gas tax increase going to be temporary?  Has it been repealed?  Of course not.  Going into the last holiday weekend, the average cost per gallon across the United States was just over three dollars.  If Idaho didn’t have a 33-cent tax per gallon (10 percent of current costs), we would have matched the national number.

I hear a lot of rumbling about removing the grocery tax every year, but the fuel tax appears to be forgotten.  While everybody eats, not everybody drives.  But nearly everybody drives, and in Idaho, that can amount to some long trips between desolate outposts.

I Think We're Being Played by the Government

I hear all sorts of explanations about our higher-than-average gasoline prices.  Lack of refineries, being geographically close to artificially high costs on the West Coast, etc.  But the tax is one area we can control, or our elected politicians can control.

When we saw the increase almost a decade ago, we were promised we would get better roads in exchange.  Okay, but how can you tell?  One road gets paved, another is rutted.  It’s not like we can get a picture of gleaming and smooth highways.

Ask Yourself Who Benefits?

Another aspect I would surmise is that the special interests that profit from construction projects are good to legislators who prime the pump.  Bill, do you mean to say that people in government are influenced by campaign cash?  Well, they’re practiced in pointing fingers elsewhere, but they’re delusional if they continue to believe the public isn’t on to the game.

I don’t drive much.  If gas were two dollars a gallon, I would probably drive more in my leisure time.  I would go places on weekends, buy lunch in restaurants, and make a contribution to the local economy.  That’s what we’ve traded away for the government-construction complex.