Virginia Looks at Replacing Gas Tax
Posted at 12:15 p.m. on Jan. 10
“Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) has unveiled a transportation funding plan that calls for eliminating the tax on gasoline purchases in his state… To replace it, McDonnell is calling for a 0.8 percent increase in Virginia’s state sales tax to generate revenue that would be dedicated to transportation,” The Hill reports.
“Transportation advocates at both the federal and state levels have argued for a new funding mechanism for road and transit construction as cars have become more energy efficient.”
Matthew Yglesias argues that this is “the most straightforwardly terrible policy I’ve heard in a while.”
“If anything, it makes the tax structure even more regressive since the carless minority in the United States is disproportionately composed of poor people. The nice thing about a gas tax is that…it does have environmental and highway congestion benefits. Higher retail sales taxes have all the annoyance but none of the benefits.”
