Kennebec Valley Podium

Can we afford a gas-tax holiday?
A national group concludes that the plan would cut highway funds and jobs but save drivers very little.
By DIETER BRADBURY
Staff Writer Portland Press Herald

Lifting the federal gas tax this summer would save Maine consumers millions of dollars -- collectively -- but the average driver would wind up with just an extra $28.

Meanwhile, the state would lose $32 million in highway funding and sacrifice 1,113 highway-related jobs.

Those are the conclusions of a national road builders trade group's report on the impact of a proposed federal gas-tax holiday from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The calculations assume that the lost tax revenue would not be replaced.

The proposal, made last month by Sen. John McCain and endorsed by Sen. Hillary Clinton, continues to attract attention as gas prices hit $4 a gallon in some places. Both presidential candidates have proposed ways to make up the billions that would stop flowing into the treasury for three months.

With Congress taking an extended break because of Memorial Day, it's unclear whether the idea will be introduced and debated as legislation, at least in its present form.

But many of Maine's political leaders and transportation officials say any measure that reduces the flow of federal highway dollars would severely damage the state's ability to build and repair roads and bridges, even as many Mainers look for relief from gasoline prices that are galloping upward.

"I think the impact would be dramatic," said Rep. Boyd Marley, a Portland Democrat who co-chairs the Legislature's Transportation Committee. "Our highways and bridges haven't been this bad in decades, and this would set us back even farther."

However, some consumers say they need to cope with runaway prices for gasoline, which was selling Wednesday at a statewide average of $3.83 a gallon for unleaded regular and has gone above $4 per gallon at some stations in far northern and eastern Maine.

The state average is up from a price of about $3.08 a year ago, according to MaineGasPrices.com, a Web site that tracks fuel costs.

"It's only temporary, and I like permanent tax-reduction items," said Raymond Powers, a retiree from Brunswick. "But any tax relief you can get is fine."

The federal tax of 18.4 cents a gallon on gasoline and 24.4 cents a gallon on diesel fuel goes into the Highway Trust Fund.

States do not receive funding based simply on the amount of tax collected within their borders.

The dollars are apportioned to the states under a formula based on highway mileage, population and other factors.

The American Road and Transportation Builders Association, which represents the transportation construction industry, calculates that suspending the tax for the summer would reduce federal transportation funding by $9 billion nationally, including $32 million for Maine.

That much lost revenue would support 1,113 jobs here in highway construction, the association said.

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