Tom Warne Report, 9 December 2011
RALEIGH – State House lawmakers approved a temporary cap on North Carolina’s gas tax before it sharply rises in the New Year, but the Senate opted not to take up the proposal for consideration, saying the timing was not right. The measure could have obtained final House approval Tuesday, but instead the bill died because the Senate decided to go home Monday without taking up any more legislation.
The proposal would have kept the state motor fuels tax at 35 cents per gallon through June 30. The state’s gas tax rate is recalculated automatically twice a year – Jan. 1 and July 1 – based on wholesale gas prices. The General Assembly estimated the state tax will rise to 38.9 cents without the cap.
“Maybe 4 cents on the gallon is not a lot,” said Rep. Edgar Starnes, R-Caldwell, before the House voted 96-23 in favor of the bill. “But if you’re unemployed or underemployed, then every penny counts and these are the people that we need to help at this time.”
The tax cap was controversial among lawmakers in North Carolina, which maintains one of the highest gas taxes in the nation. State Sen. Bill Rabon, a Southport Republican and co-chairman of the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee, said Monday that he was opposed to the cap, saying it is a “mighty big issue to jump on at the 11th hour.”