This month, I introduced the Gas Tax Reduction Act, a bill to stop states like California from overtaxing their residents.
Gas in California is not only more expensive than in every other state, but it’s also, ironically, worse for the environment.
We burn massive amounts of carbon shipping oil and refined petroleum products from conflict zones to California shores. We have oil right here at home, which would be far cleaner, but much of it is off limits.
There is only one reason for this outcome: failed political leadership in Sacramento.
Today, California has a higher cost of living than any state in the country. Why? In part because we have the highest gas tax in the United States – 61.2 cents per gallon, plus about 10 cents per gallon in sales tax, totaling roughly 71 cents per gallon.
All of that money is supposed to go toward improving our infrastructure and transportation, yet California is routinely rated as having the worst roads in the country.
When you pay the highest gas tax in the nation while driving over the deepest potholes, your government is broken.
No state should have the authority to force its citizens to pay more than 50 cents per gallon.
In fact, only five states in the country have a gas tax over 50 cents, so I believe that is a good limit. We could save Californians 21 cents per gallon.
And for that reason, my bill is simple. It conditions federal highway grants on keeping gas taxes below 50 cents per gallon.
This is the same policy tool used to assure rational policy alignment on other issues, such as alcohol purchase ages and vehicle weight standards.
California’s gas tax contributes to the highest fuel prices in the country and places a disproportionate burden on working families, commuters, and small businesses, particularly those who live in rural areas and have to drive long distances.
In addition to urging Congress to pass this legislation, I am also urging politicians in Sacramento to suspend the state gas tax in its entirety – as Georgia just did.
With California prices approaching $6 per gallon, suspending the gas tax is the least our state’s political leaders could do to provide some measure of relief.
Now is the time for Congress to do the right thing and protect our hardworking citizens.
This legislation is intended to encourage fiscal responsibility at the state level while ensuring that federal transportation dollars are not used to subsidize excessive taxation policies that drive up the cost of living.
Let’s come together in a bipartisan fashion to pass this common-sense measure.
Kevin Kiley, an Independent, represents California’s 3rd Congressional District.
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