As many of you know this 65th legislative session has a very tight budget. State overspending and declining natural resource prices have hurt our state’s financial health. When money gets tight, whether you are a business, family, or the state government, there are two options: raise income/prices/taxes or cut spending. Last week Rep. Frank Garner, HD 7, introduced an 8 cents a gallon tax increase. Right now Montana is 26th highest in the nation for state gas tax. If this tax increase were to pass, we would be 11th highest in the nation. When you take into account the vast miles in our state, and how much more we drive compared to smaller states, we would have the highest out-of-pocket gas tax in the nation!
I know and see the need for infrastructure right here in the Bitterroot and across the state. The issue is, how are we going to address the problem. Are we going to add a gas tax that hurts most low income Montanans, or are we going to first take a look at how government has over spent? When I am voting to spend the hard earned dollars of the Montana taxpayer, I don’t want to take the easy, less responsible way out.
It is a time for state government self-reflection in the area of fiscal responsibility. A gas tax increase would hurt most of those on a tight budget. I believe that we can fully fund infrastructure within our current budget.
Just last week, House Appropriations sub-committee chairman Carl Glimm made the cuts possible to fund infrastructure staying within budget, as reported by KVGO’s Peter Christian. ”There’s no increase in taxes,” Glimm said. “The department had quite a number of empty or vacant positions that we eliminated, so we were able to take that money and put it towards construction projects. We also found significant savings on the administrative side. It’s all funding that was meant for the state’s special highway fund.”
These savings however, need to pass our governor who seems bent on raising taxes before looking at responsible spending. If the governor allows the vacancy savings found to pass, it would fund $220 million worth of infrastructure.
A gas tax increase is nothing more than using legitimate infrastructure concerns as a poster child to enable more state overspending. We need to hold fast to the notion that the state should spend within its means, just as all Montana taxpayers have to live within theirs.
Rep. Theresa Manzella, HD 85
Hamilton