Suzanimal
02-11-2015, 09:53 AM
Leading Georgia Republicans are heading into battle with Grover Norquist over transportation funding.
In a post that calls out Gov. Nathan Deal and House Speaker David Ralston by name, Americans for Tax Reform announced its opposition to the proposal to raise at least $1 billion to tackle the state’s commuting woes. The gist:
Not only does the bill result in an immediate gas tax hike, it gives local governments free rein to raise local gas taxes in the future. The total tax on gasoline in Georgia could range as high as 53.6 cents per gallon, well above the U.S. average of 48.29 cents per gallon. If implemented, H.B. 170 could make gasoline sold in Georgia, the 9th highest taxed gasoline in the nation. Indexing the gas tax to inflation would make it worse.
ATR urges the legislature to revisit its transportation spending priorities and reject all gas tax hikes on consumers.
The news came as changes to the House bill allowed it to advance and earned the support of the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia, as our AJC colleague Aaron Gould Sheinin reports. A committee vote is due Thursday.
It’s worth noting that, while all but one of Georgia’s Republican federal lawmakers have taken the Norquist “no new taxes” pledge, an ATR database search shows that only 44 state lawmakers have signed — including Deal and Ralston.
http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2015/02/11/grover-norquists-group-labels-transportation-bill-a-tax-hike/
In a post that calls out Gov. Nathan Deal and House Speaker David Ralston by name, Americans for Tax Reform announced its opposition to the proposal to raise at least $1 billion to tackle the state’s commuting woes. The gist:
Not only does the bill result in an immediate gas tax hike, it gives local governments free rein to raise local gas taxes in the future. The total tax on gasoline in Georgia could range as high as 53.6 cents per gallon, well above the U.S. average of 48.29 cents per gallon. If implemented, H.B. 170 could make gasoline sold in Georgia, the 9th highest taxed gasoline in the nation. Indexing the gas tax to inflation would make it worse.
ATR urges the legislature to revisit its transportation spending priorities and reject all gas tax hikes on consumers.
The news came as changes to the House bill allowed it to advance and earned the support of the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia, as our AJC colleague Aaron Gould Sheinin reports. A committee vote is due Thursday.
It’s worth noting that, while all but one of Georgia’s Republican federal lawmakers have taken the Norquist “no new taxes” pledge, an ATR database search shows that only 44 state lawmakers have signed — including Deal and Ralston.
http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2015/02/11/grover-norquists-group-labels-transportation-bill-a-tax-hike/