Gas tax fuels partisan debate

A 2.8-cent increase in the state's gas tax earlier this month has sparked a heated, partisan debate among N.C. leaders.

And the divide reaches higher than the state legislature.

A letter addressed Jan. 5 from leaders of the state House and Senate has received mixed responses from North Carolina's congressional delegation.

House Speaker Jim Black, D-Mecklenburg, and Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight, D-Dare, addressed the letter to the state's congressmen and asked for federal assistance to help alleviate the tax problem.

On Friday, U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C. responded scathingly, saying the General Assembly had squandered the money from the Highway Trust Fund "to build personal fiefdoms of power."

While proponents of the tax say it is necessary to meet the needs of construction and maintenance of N.C. roadways, some members of the legislature's joint committee studying fuel costs agree more with Myrick's view.

"She's right," said Sen. Phil Berger, R-Rockingham.

He said he saw Basnight and Black's letter as an attempt to "pass the buck."

"It's an effort on the part of the leadership to pass the responsibility to someone else," he said.

Berger said the funds for transportation often are appropriated and put into the general fund, leaving deficient funds for highway needs and leaving a hike in the gas tax as the sole avenue.

"The funds that are collected for roads should be used for roads," he said.

Berger said it is the management of the funds and not the amount of funds that is the problem.

"We need to deal with the management issue; then we can take a look at our transportation needs," he said.

But others see the gas tax as necessary and found Myrick's response unwarranted.

Rep. Nelson Cole, D-Rockingham, said responses from Democratic congressmen were favorable to Black and Basnight's letter.

"It's developed into a partisan issue," he said, adding that U.S. Rep. Brad Miller, D-N.C., is in support of federal assistance.

Cole said the gas tax is needed to develop and maintain N.C. roads, the second largest state-funded road system in the U.S.

He added that a reduction in the tax would not ensure a reduction in gas prices.

Sarah Davis, spokeswoman for AAA Carolinas, said the higher gas prices consumers are seeing cannot be blamed solely on taxes.

She said regulations that were relaxed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina to supply the country's oil needs are coming back into play.

"There were environmental regulations that were eased," Davis said. "Some shipping regulations were eased."

 

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.