Gas-guzzler fee on inefficient cars facing hurdles at Statehouse
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A Hummer dwarfs two smaller SUVs parked on Main Street in Montpelier last summer. Vehicles like the Hummer are targets of a gas-guzzler tax proposed in the Vermont Legislature. Times Argus file photo by Stefan Hard |
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By Louis Porter Vermont Press Bureau - Published: April 9, 2007
MONTPELIER – A legislative proposal to impose a "gas guzzler" fee on inefficient cars is moving forward in the House, but may run into roadblocks if and when it arrives for consideration in the Senate.
Charging $150 for new cars that get bad gas mileage will help the state reduce its contribution to global warming and raise money for public transit, supporters said. Under the current proposal, trucks would be subject to the charge if they got less than 17 miles to the gallon, and cars would have to get at least 20 miles to the gallon, except those used for work.
But a key member of the Senate, Richard Mazza, D-Grand Isle, said he opposes the idea. And Gov. James Douglas has said he will fight the measure as well.
Mazza, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, said he is willing to look at a gas guzzler fee, but he added that not enough time remains in the Legislative session to thoroughly consider the proposal.
"It has a real impact on business, it has a real impact on people," he said. "I think those are serious issues."
"I am not interested in raising any kind of taxes at this time," Mazza added.
Supporters of the bill in the House said the bill would follow through on the goal of reducing global warming pollution, and provide money to replace aging buses.
"I think it is time to do something meaningful about global warming," House Speaker Gaye Symington said. "If we are serious about that, we need to do something about the transportation sector."
Rep. Richard Westman, R-Cambridge, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, said more money needs to be put into replacing buses for public transit than was in Douglas' proposed budget. As buses get older, they are more expensive to run because they cost more in maintenance and fuel, and the older buses pollute significantly more, Westman said.
"What you will do is double the cost in the operating budgets for the transit providers," he said.
The Transportation Committee's public transit bill includes $1 million more than the $2.3 million Douglas suggested to buy new buses and vans. Overall the governor's proposed budget for public transit next year is $17.2 million, about $400,000 less than was spent this year.
The debate is taking place against a backdrop of a larger funding problem for transportation in Vermont, Westman said. A significant number of aging bridges and neglected highways will have to be replaced and repaired soon, and the state should not let its bus fleet fall into the same state of disrepair, he said.
Changing seatbelt law so that police could stop and ticket Vermonters primarily for not wearing their seat belts could bring about $3.7 million in additional federal funds to the state. That change would only provide one-time money, however, and public transit is an on-going need, Westman said.
The committee's bill also includes tax incentives proposed by Douglas for those who buy high-efficiency cars or use bio-diesel, as well as a rating system to help consumers determine the efficiency of new vehicles they might purchase.
Neale Lunderville, secretary of Transportation, pointed out that the state has put a significant amount of money into public transit. In fact, the budget has been increases by 40 percent since 2002.
"We have to find the right balance between public transit, rail, aviation and every other mode of transportation we have," he said. "The agency has been committed to public transit and will be committed to public transit in the future."
But a gas guzzler fee is the wrong way to go, Lunderville said.
"It's really a tax. It's a tax on working families and the choices they need to make to transport their families back and forth to soccer practice or to work," he said.
But members of the House said that the proposal would leave plenty of choice for Vermonters.
"I am sympathetic to the needs of a large family. I am the shortest person in my family," said Symington, who is taller than 5 feet 10 inches.
But the gas mileage levels proposed for the gas guzzler fee are low enough that there are many vehicles in every category that Vermonters could buy without having to pay the $150, Symington said.
With revenue from the gas tax and the tax on new vehicle purchases declining, as well as the need for money to fix transportation infrastructure in the state, there needs to be a larger conversation about where the money is going to come from, Mazza said.
"We have a severe shortage of funds and what we have to do is balance the funds we have," he said.
The debate has shades of last year's discussion over increasing the gas tax to pay for transportation. That measure passed the House, but was stalled in the Senate.
Even if the idea of taxing "gas guzzlers" is not met with a warm reception in the Senate, it should still be considered by the House, Symington said.
"I don't have an assurance from the Senate. I think it is the right thing to do anyway," she said.
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