OREGON
HOUSE REPUBLICANS
OREGON
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MORE PAIN AT THE PUMP: HOUSE DEMOCRATS
SEEK GAS TAX HIKE
HB 2653 Automatically Raises the Gas Tax
Every Five Years
SALEM—
As Oregon’s gas prices reach $3.50 per
gallon, House Democrats are proposing a gas
tax increase to make drivers feel more pain
at the pump. They’ve advanced HB 2653, a
bill to raise the gas tax by five cents and
to increase mileage tax rates on truckers.
In addition, the bill automatically
increases the gas tax every five years,
without consideration to gas prices at the
time.
“Oregon’s average gas price is the third
highest in the nation,” said House
Republican Leader Wayne Scott (R-Canby).
“Now Democrats want working families and
small businesses to pay even more. We don’t
need higher fuel taxes to slow our economy
and jeopardize jobs.”
Over the next two
years, Oregonians are projected to spend
over $880 million in fuel taxes and over
$500 million in weight-mile taxes. Oregon already ranks among the top third of
states with the highest gas taxes. During
the 2007 session, Democrats have also
proposed a 44 percent increase in vehicle
registration fees.
“The Democrats
want to raise the gas tax at the same time
they’re proposing to increase the Department
of Transportation budget by 23 percent, with
millions of dollars in pork for non-highway
projects,” Rep. Scott said. “Before asking
Oregonians to pay higher gas prices, we need
to better utilize existing funds by
prioritizing our spending and identifying
efficiencies within Oregon’s massive transportation bureaucracy.”
Rep. Scott said
he’s also concerned about further raising
weight-mile tax rates on truckers. The tax
rate was raised nearly five percent in 2003,
and truckers subsidize almost 12 percent of
ODOT’s budget. This session, truckers also
face dozens of new regulations and mandates.
“Raising taxes on
truckers will only serve to increase the
costs of everyday items, such as groceries
or clothing,” Rep. Scott said. “HB 2653 is
actually a double-tax increase on working
families, because they’ll have to pay the
added transportation costs through higher
prices at the market.”
HB 2653 has been
reported out by the House Transportation
Committee, and will be heard by the
Democratic majority Friday in the House
Revenue Committee.
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