A New York Times editorial says the average price of gasoline at $1.99 a gallon last week, down from $2.80 a gallon at the end of June, “presents a good opportunity for state governments to raise their gasoline taxes to help pay for road repairs and other needed transportation investments.
“Ideally, Congress should raise the national gasoline tax, which has remained at 18.4 cents per gallon since 1993,” the NYT opinion piece continues, but acknowledges a lack of congressional will to raise necessary taxes.
“That leaves it up to the states to do the job. And now is the time to do it.
“That decrease (in the price of gasoline) gives state lawmakers plenty of room to raise taxes without hitting drivers with a big new expense,” the NYT opines.
Last year, eight states raised their gas taxes and two more changed the way they collect gas taxes to revenue doesn’t decline with gas-price fluctuations.
