This week and the next the House will be sending three big bills
over to the Senate: the transportation bill, the tax bill, and the budget bill.
Each of these bills touches on fundamental fiscal responsibilities that we in
the legislature take very seriously.
You elected me to be your voice in the legislature, reflecting
your concerns about the economy, our infrastructure, our education system, the
environment, and how we support our own citizens by ensuring that our fiscal
plan reflects your values. You want us to spend wisely and keep in mind that
your budget is being stressed as well. By the end of this session we will pass
a balanced budget that meets the financial obligations of state government in a
fiscally responsible way.
Concerns about tax increases have been at the top of the list of
emails and phone calls I’ve received in the past week. At the statehouse we all share your concern
about tax increases. We have all been
looking at cutting spending where appropriate within the areas of our
committees' jurisdiction, as well as looking for efficiencies in state programs
to avoid tax increases. Misleading TV
ads about "$70 million tax increases by Democrats" as well as misleading
claims by special interests serve only to distort the reality we have to work
with. An example is the claim that fuel
oil taxes were going to increase by 12 cents per gallon. The reality is that a nominal 1/2% increase
on the wholesale price (less than 2 cents/gallon) was ever considered, and that
was dropped because of competing budgetary concerns. If it had been adopted, it would have meant
an increase of $15 to $20 to a household's heating bill for the entire heating
season. This would have helped more
homes to get weatherization services to reduce the amount of heating fuel
needed. However, we on the Natural
Resources and Energy Committee elected to depend only on current funding
sources which will get us through the next heating season. This means that we'll have to come back to
this issue again next year since one of those funding sources resulting from
the CVPS-GMP merger will eventually disappear.
This past week the House passed a Transportation Bill that
restructures how gasoline taxes are assessed.
The bill is $4 million less than what was requested by the Agency of
Transportation and $800,000 less than last year's budget. The restructuring of the gas tax was
essential because of the huge decrease in gas tax revenues leading to underfunding
of needed road and bridge repair work and other transportation services. About 39 million fewer gallons of gas were
purchased in Vermont in 2012 compared to 2005 because of more efficient
vehicles and fewer miles being driven.
While this is good for the environment, it does not produce the revenues
needed to maintain our aging roads and bridges essential to keeping drivers
safe. This year’s Transportation bill
has split the taxation of gasoline between a cents-per-gallon basis and a
percentage of the price per gallon (minus state and federal per gallon
taxes). This will lead to a 6.9 cent
increase in 2014, rising to 7.7 cents in 2015, and 8.8 cents in 2016 at current
prices. (In comparison, New Hampshire
just voted to increase their gasoline tax by 12 cents/gallon.) It is also worth
noting that 1/3 of our gas tax revenues are collected from out of state
drivers.
A common criticism is that the Transportation Fund is being raided
for other purposes. While this may have
been true in the past, it is no longer so.
Other than transportation infrastructure expenses, the only other
programs receiving Transportation Fund money are a small percentage for Fish
and Wildlife-related transportation expenses and $25 million for DUI
enforcement by State Police.
I appreciate your concern about rising taxes and will seek to
critically balance the needs of Vermont taxpayers with the needs to keep
Vermont healthy, strong and everything that makes Vermont a great place to live
and work.
You can reach me by phone (425-3960) or by email (myantachka.dfa@gmail.com).
