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After a closed-door caucus, House GOP leaders called a press conference to declare that they still don’t want to raise the gas tax, as Gov. Butch Otter has proposed. Majority Caucus Chairman Ken Roberts, R-Donnelly, said GOP leaders are concerned about the state’s budget picture, including the latest revenue numbers. “Those numbers cause us some concern,” he said. “April’s numbers are not good news, in spite of statements to the contrary about ‘dodging a bullet.’ We didn’t dodge anything - in fact we’re still in the middle of the railroad tracks.” He said, “This is simply not the time to be talking about tax increases.”
House Speaker Lawerence Denney, R-Midvale, said, “We have basically completed our work. … We are not sure that this recession has even bottomed out yet. … We think it’s prudent to wait until we see when the economy has in fact bottomed out, before we go ahead and pass a gas tax.” Denney said the House will again attempt to unilaterally adjourn the session this week, “if that’s what it takes.”
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Sisyphus on May 04 at 2:36 p.m.
$400 million in a rainy day fund and they’re costing us $30,000 a day griping about a piddly $75 million tax to be deferred a couple years.
Anybody else long for some leadership?
tayljess on May 04 at 2:56 p.m.
I dont understand their thought process on this issue. We have an opportunity to do a lot for very little and save taxpayers money. Yes the Fuel tax would cost the average driver almost $20 a year in taxes, it would however save you about $40 on maintenance and extra devaluation due to driving on crapy roads. I drive more than an average driver and use the roads more and should pay more, this is a way to do that. I attended several of those meeting that the governor and transportation held over the past few months, they vetted the options and listened to us that were at the meetings.
We have roads that are unsafe and if we dont fix them we will loose the conduit to fix our economy! This Infrastructure is how Idaho Goods get to market, how our tourist get to cities and our sites, and this is how our kids get to school. Lets invest the money, put some more people to work fix our roads while prices are cheap and for once lets look ahead!
LLIdaho on May 05 at 8:32 a.m.
Honestly, I have no problem paying the additional $3 per month to maintain our roads and bridges.
Where is the leadership? It’s absolutely amazing that one political party can have such an absolute majority and still be at a complete standstill. I miss Bruce Newcomb. He wasn’t perfect, but he was certainly better at leading the House and finding appropriate compromise in these kinds of situations.