New Report: States Held Accountable For Their Gas Tax Policies

There have been many reports and federal commissions on transportation funding that have studied the ramifications of the federal government's failure to raise federal fuel excise taxes since 1993. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), "a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that works on federal, state, and local tax policy issues" is the first to provide a detailed analysis for each state on the consequences of their gas tax policies.

""Building a Better Gas Tax: How to Fix One of State Government's Least Sustainable Revenue Sources" documents state-by-state figures including the costs and benefits of proposed remedies. Today's state gas taxes make up a smaller portion of family budgets than at any time since the tax was first widely instituted in the 1920s."

"Unfortunately, many politicians won't consider touching the gas tax," said Carl Davis, senior analyst at ITEP and author of the study. "They are raising sales taxes, fees on vehicles, tolls on roads, even looting education funds, all to make up for the stagnant gas tax. But they can't bring themselves to modernize the biggest source of transportation revenue that's actually under their control. It makes no sense."

From ITEP press release (PDF): "Building a Better Gas Tax" shows that the average state has not increased its gas tax rate in over a decade, and 14 states have gone 20 years or longer without an increase."

Thanks to Anne Singer