Grover Norquist says we don’t need it! So take the money from something like education, or the fire department, or the police because underfunding them could never come back to haunt me!
Yep, better to pay an oil company fifty cents to a dollar a gallon extra because Summer is here, than pay a nickel in gas tax to fix roads. Oh, right, lets find ways to tax (mileage tax) fuel efficient or electric vehicles at a higher rate so that oil companies will see no harm from conservation.
The problem is that state legislators don’t always (if ever) spend that tax money on maintaining and upgrading our roads. Massachusetts raised the gas tax a few years ago, and now they want to do it again! .There is a six-lane bridge in Amesbury, part of I-95, that rusted away for DECADES, without a sandblasting, repainting, or small upgrades. A few years ago, it was declared unsafe. Now, the state has the whole area ripped up to build a brand-new bridge next to the current one. I guess our pols on Beacon Hill had a few “friends” who would profit very well in erecting a new, very expensive bridge, than simply maintaing an existing one!
It was declared unsafe because no maintenance was done on it for about, by my estimate, 30 years!Massachusetts logic ? Help out those who contribute to campaign coffers first!
Kylop over 9 years ago
Grover Norquist says we don’t need it! So take the money from something like education, or the fire department, or the police because underfunding them could never come back to haunt me!
kcamp58 over 9 years ago
The problem is most of the money from gas taxes don’t go to maintain the roads but to mass transit.
oneoldhat over 9 years ago
some go to jogging paths
Dtroutma over 9 years ago
Yep, better to pay an oil company fifty cents to a dollar a gallon extra because Summer is here, than pay a nickel in gas tax to fix roads. Oh, right, lets find ways to tax (mileage tax) fuel efficient or electric vehicles at a higher rate so that oil companies will see no harm from conservation.
benbrilling over 9 years ago
Anyone got a link to the source of that claim regarding most of gas taxes don’t go to road maintenance?
And besides, most of a pittance sure ain’t much money.
Gas tax should have been a percentage from the start instead of a fixed amount. Then it would have kept up with inflation automatically.
moosemin over 9 years ago
The problem is that state legislators don’t always (if ever) spend that tax money on maintaining and upgrading our roads. Massachusetts raised the gas tax a few years ago, and now they want to do it again! .There is a six-lane bridge in Amesbury, part of I-95, that rusted away for DECADES, without a sandblasting, repainting, or small upgrades. A few years ago, it was declared unsafe. Now, the state has the whole area ripped up to build a brand-new bridge next to the current one. I guess our pols on Beacon Hill had a few “friends” who would profit very well in erecting a new, very expensive bridge, than simply maintaing an existing one!
moosemin over 9 years ago
It was declared unsafe because no maintenance was done on it for about, by my estimate, 30 years!Massachusetts logic ? Help out those who contribute to campaign coffers first!