Iowa lawmakers struggle to deal with fuel tax plan
Comments (...)DES MOINES (AP) — A proposed increase in Iowa’s fuel tax has landed in a limbo, with lawmakers hesitant to move ahead or reject the plan.
Committees in the House and Senate have approved increases, but the proposals are on hold while leaders in both chambers decide whether to move ahead.
So far, no one seems sure what to do.
“There are a host of factors that would lead one to think we need to go down that road and there are a host of factors that would lead one to think we don’t need to go down that road,” said House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha. “That’s what we’re working through right now.”
Gov. Terry Branstad also has been vague about calls for a fuel tax increase, calling for transportation officials to first find about $50 million in costs savings before the Legislature looks to increase taxes to finance road work. Although agency officials said they had identified the savings, Branstad hasn’t said whether he now backs an increase on the fuel tax.
“The governor will need to see any final proposal for future road funding before indicating whether he will sign or veto the legislation,” said spokesman Tim Albrecht.
A Senate panel has approved a 10-cent-per-gallon increase and a House panel has backed an 8 cent increase. The tax would apply to both gasoline and diesel fuel.
It would be the first increase in Iowa’s 21-cent per gallon fuel tax since 1989.
Those proposals likely would die if either Branstad or Paulsen announced their opposition, but so far that hasn’t happened.
It’s a difficult issue for lawmakers, especially Republicans, because powerful groups have taken strongly opposing views on the issue.
Iowans for Tax Relief, which runs the state’s largest political action committee, has been adamant that Republicans should oppose any election-year tax increase. But the Iowa Farm Bureau, which largely favors Republicans, has pushed for the increase, arguing that roads have deteriorated and hurt farmers who rely on them to get their crops to market.
At poll for The Des Moines Register released Friday also likely will factor into the discussion. It found that 68 percent of Iowans oppose a fuel tax increase.
Senate Majority Leader Michael Gronstal said lawmakers can’t figure out how to handle the issue.
“It’s really clear that people are reserving the option of moving forward on more resources for the road use tax fund this year,” said Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs. “They are deliberately leaving that option open.”
Or as Rep. Dave Tjepkes, who heads the House Transportation Committee and supports the increase, puts it, “We could need a mediator, but he doesn’t work in this office.”
Tjepkes, R-Gowrie, has proposed a middle ground in which the Legislature would approve a fuel tax increase this year, but it wouldn’t be tacked onto gas prices until next year. He’s awaiting signals from Republican leaders before moving the issue forward.
Paulsen said it might be a while before Republicans decide what to do.
“I think I need a certain level of support from Republicans before we would ever proceed,” said Paulsen. “We don’t know the answer to that question.”
Gronstal said he doesn’t know how the issue will be resolved. The problem, in part, is that the public also seems unsure of how the proceed.
Although polling makes clear there is little support for a fuel tax, many people also see a need to improve the transportation system. Gronstal said he sees this at meetings he holds with business leaders and others in Council Bluffs.
“I’ve asked the question several times in Council Bluffs. That is, how many people want to see the gas tax go up and not a single hand is raised,” said Gronstal. “Then I ask how many people want to see the interstate torn up for the next 25 years in Council Bluffs, and not a single hand goes up. I think it’s clear there’s recognition our infrastructure is a challenge and we need to do something about it.”
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