Republicans Say Gas-Tax Cut Would Fuel Economy (Updated)
-
- April
- 30
Assembly Republicans, right, and Senate Republicans, left, in the state Legislature said this morning that cutting the state’s gas-tax cap for the summer, which would save 32.75 a gallon, would help tourism in New York and boost the economy.
Assembly Republicans said the gas-tax cut, which would cost the state between $500 million and $800 million in revenue, would serve as a state stimulus package for the summer months. The plans calls for a suspension of the gas tax from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
“You’re talking about a lot of savings during the summer months when a lot of the driving is done,” said Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco.
Senate Republicans said that the gas-tax suspension—coupled with a federal and county gas-tax cut—would save drivers 65 cents a gallon. The feds are talking about a gas-tax cut, yet many counties have gone away from gas-tax cuts because they said it hasn’t resulted in savings at the pump.
And Republicans offered no concrete way to pay for the tax cut.
“We have to provide relief so people can afford to live and support their family,” said Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno.
The Democratic-controlled Assembly has not supported the measure, while Gov. David Paterson said today that he would support the concept but there is no clear indication that gas companies would pass on the savings to drivers.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, April 30th, 2008 at 11:25 am by Joseph Spector.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Share and Enjoy: 
| 
| 
Email This
Did you notice the Democrats in Albany are quiet on this. Where does our Westchester Democrat Senators and Assemblymembers stand on this.
what happens if the price of oil moves higher
over the summer..causing gasoline prices to move
higher even further…when the gas tax moratorium is
lifted..then people will be faced with a traumatic increase
rather than facing an incremental increase as the world
price of oil goes up….so removing the tax may give
temporary relief but it may also cause chaos when the
moratorium ends in the budgets of those who cannot
forsee the huge increase that might occur…it
also encourages people to drive more not less which
does nothing to deal with demand….the real cause
of increases in gasoline all over the world
Mike, are you SURE you’re a Republican? That last post is so….. reasonable!
It would be more reasonable to cut to the chase and drill oil and build nuclear energy if only to stop funding enemies and potential enemies.
Yes indeed, Ed. Cut to the chase is right.
Good article from FactCheck.org about the McCain and Clinton proposals…
www.factcheck.org/gas_price_fixes_that_wont.html
This gas tax holiday is none other than the work of Greg Ball himself. Now that the minority leader is onboard, we’ll see if it gets traction. I did hear it on WCBS this afternoon.
If Mr. Ball understood the issue, he would know that the prices of gas go up due to DEMAND. Artificially lowering the prices of fuel will just make people buy more gas, and drive the price up even more. Then, when that tax comes back (probably right after election day), we’ll be paying an extra thirty cents per gallon thanks to this bill!
The Assembly Republican’s are also pushing Ball’s ethanol incentive bill. By creating an artificial demand for ethanol (since the Federal government right now is the only one that buys the stuff, along with subsidizing it) at the state level, it will only reduce the supply of corn further, and inflate prices of corn-feed meats, cornmeal products, etc.
We don’t need a gas tax moratorium, we need an ethanol moratorium. Wake up, assembly republicans!
Hmmm, guess it seems that Mr. Ball is personally responsible for increasing demand, thus driving up the prices, seeing as I saw him driving a Land Rover SUV. 16 mpg highway, if you’re lucky.
No credible economist (neo-classical, keynesian, neo-liberal, and supply-siders have all come out against it) has come out publicly in favor of the McCain and Hillary proposals. I cannot imagine the state proposal is any better.
The Bruno-led state Republican party is a joke.
Indeed, Ian! In fact, the Clinton campaign has been asked several times if they can produce any economist in favor of her proposal. None have been offered.
It seems that the only folks who think that any of these plans are good ideas are campaign political advisers. (Mike Edelman excepted.)