CHEYENNE — With gasoline prices hovering near $3 a gallon, U.S. Rep. Barbara Cubin has offered support for legislation that would suspend the federal fuel tax to provide relief for motorists and help blunt a possible economic downturn.
“Unfortunately, Congress can’t wave a magic wand to fix overnight the fundamental supply and demand problems that are driving gas prices upward,” Cubin, R-Wyo., said in a release. “The energy bill addresses those problems, but it will take time. What we can do is offer some immediate relief by suspending the gas tax to alleviate the short term crisis caused by Hurricane Katrina.”
Under the legislation, the 18.4-cent-per-gallon tax would be suspended indefinitely and require an act of Congress to reinstate. A second measure Cubin is backing would temporarily suspend the tax for 30 days.
Hello, the gasoline tax all goes into the highways trust fund. Anyone think we shouldn’t be repairing roads? How about I-10 across Louisiana and Mississippi?
But even if you buy 30 gallons of gasoline a week, eliminating the tax would only save you $5.52.
The price of gasoline has gone up 40 cents or more a gallon since before Katrina. The tax has remained the same since 1997, when gas cost $1.20 a gallon. How about asking the oil companies to reduce prices 18.4 cents instead?