Gas-tax increase only money on table

It's been called the "third rail" of the legislative debate over how to fund Virginia's transportation solutions.

Vote to increase the state's gas tax, and you can start drafting your concession speech well before Election Day.

Even Democratic Gov. Timothy M. Kaine steered away from the political pothole of incorporating a fuel tax increase into his $1 billion transportation proposal, calling fuel "a necessity of life" for Virginians.

He also acknowledged the idea stood little chance of surviving the Republican-controlled House of Delegates.

Legislators, however, will reconvene on Wednesday to again take up the issue of how to fix the state's mounting road maintenance deficit, and how to provide funding for transportation needs in the heavily congested regions of Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.

And so far, the only funding proposal to pass either chamber in the General Assembly calls for an increase in the gas tax.

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A look at gas taxes in the region suggests that Virginia asks for a good deal less from its motorists than its neighbors do.

Virginia's gasoline state excise tax is currently 17.5 cents a gallon -- the same as it's been since 1986. The national average for state gasoline excise taxes is 18.4 cents, but several large states add on sales and wholesaler taxes that boost the average state tax burden to 31 cents a gallon.

In Maryland, the tax is 23.5 cents a gallon. It's 29.9 cents in North Carolina, 20 cents in Tennessee, 21.1 cents in Kentucky, 32.3 cents in West Virginia, which also charges an 11.7 cent wholesale tax, and 20 cents in the District of Columbia, according to statistics compiled at the beginning of the year by the federal government's Energy Information Administration.

At $3.92 for regular unleaded, only Tennessee has a lower state average cost per gallon than Virginia, where the average price is $3.99, according to the most recent Daily Fuel Gauge Report compiled by the Oil Price Information Service. But Virginia's lower tax means the state takes a smaller percentage of drivers' money.

According to the service, Maryland's average price is $4.04; North Carolina's average price is $4.02; West Virginia, $4.10; District of Columbia, $4.16.

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Senate Majority Leader Richard L. Saslaw, D-Fairfax, has proposed a penny-per-gallon increase in the state gasoline tax in each of the next six years, as part of a broader plan to raise revenue statewide and in the troubled regions.

Saslaw's bill passed the Senate on a 21-16 vote along party lines. Democrats voted yes; Republicans, no.

Saslaw, a longtime Northern Virginia legislator who made his money in the service station business, has said the gas tax increase he's proposed would generate $298 million a year when fully phased in.

He said the cost to the average motorist after six years would be an additional $45 a year -- a sum that would be more than offset by a proposed half-cent reduction in the sales tax on food, from 2.5 percent to 2 percent.

Kaine, whose own tax-and-fee proposal was effectively killed in the House Rules committee two weeks ago, said at the beginning of the session that he would sign any measure that passes the General Assembly as long as it addresses statewide maintenance needs and funding for Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.

He may not get the chance when it comes to Saslaw's gas tax bill. The legislation is expected to come up for a vote in the Republican-controlled House this week. It is not expected to survive.

Whether or not Saslaw's bill survives, the reasoning behind it applies to any measure lawmakers consider:

"We can't find a single contractor -- not a single one," he told his Senate colleagues, "who will pour that cement and asphalt for free."
Contact Jim Nolan at (804) 649-6061 or jnolan@timesdispatch.com

Contact David Ress at (804) 649-6051 or dress@timesdispatch.com.