State House vote on gas tax cap expected tonight

The full House tentatively backed a bill keeping a state motor fuels taxation at 35 cents per gallon through Jun 30. The gas taxation is recalculated automatically twice annually Jan. 1 and July 1 based on a formula linked to wholesale gas prices. The General Assembly's nonpartisan fiscal staff estimates a state taxation would grow to as high as 38.9 cents without a cap. "Maybe 4 cents on a gallon is not a lot," said Rep. Edgar Starnes, R-Caldwell, before a House voted 96-23 in favor of a bill. "But if you're unemployed or underemployed, then every penny counts and these are a people that we need to help at this time." The measure could receive final House approval Tuesday, but it didn't matter because a Senate scheduled to hold a procedural event just after midnight Monday and go home without taking up any more legislation. That means a bill is dead. Like a rest of a legislature, lawmakers from Southeastern North Carolina disagreed on what to do about a gas tax.Rep. Danny McComas, R-New Hanover, said Monday afternoon that he supported a cap. Because North Carolina has one of a highest gas taxes in a nation and as a result often has higher fuel prices than neighboring states many long-distance travelers fuel up before they reach a state line or after they leave North Carolina. That, in turn, reduces gas taxation revenues, McComas said.He also said state residents need financial relief, not additional taxes come Jan. 1."Why should we be taxing more and making it more expensive for people to commute to work?" he said.State Sen. Bill Rabon, a Southport Republican and co-chairman of a Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee, said Monday afternoon he opposes a cap, calling it a "mighty big issue to jump on at a 11th hour."He said a issue "seems to be as most a political stunt right now as it is good government.""I'm not going to be one to say, Hey I'm a guy who saved we $23 on gasoline taxes, and I'm really sorry about a school bus that your kid was on that fell through a bridge that! we didn 't repair,' " Rabon said.State Department of Transportation officials said Monday that road resurfacing, bridge replacements, ferries, urban loop projects and other DOT services that depend on gas taxation revenues would be impacted by a cap.Rep. Susi Hamilton, D-New Hanover, said she generally opposes a cap because she believes a state can't afford to lose money for roads. She said a 4-cent increase in a gas taxation would cost a average motorist reduction than $30 a year and pay for much-needed infrastructure projects."We need those projects to continue to put North Carolina residents to work," Hamilton said.Senators were reduction inclined to lose road-building funds that have been projected in approving this year's budget. Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said members are concerned that Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue, not a legislature, would decide which projects get delayed. The House bill doesn't make those decisions. "Now is not a time for us to be dealing with that issue," said Berger, adding that a Senate would be glad to examine a gasoline taxation during a budget-adjustment event next May, and create a plan that could actually cut a tax, not cap it. Any bill also would be sent to Perdue, who would be asked to make a bill law or veto it. The cap would have meant $95.8 million reduction in revenues, although a bill's top advocate, Rep. Mitch Gillespie, R-McDowell, said about a third of that loss would be canceled with yet-used money sitting on a bottom line in a Highway Fund. Supporters of freezing a cap at a current rate said it would give relief to a public while promoting accountability inside of a Department of Transportation. The House bill would have directed a study of a DOT taxation structure. Some people believe a automatic recalculation of a taxation keeps a issue from apropos as well political. Others argue it prevents lawmakers from having to make tough decisions on a gas tax. "This is a first step in a right direction," said Rep. Mike Stone, R-Lee. North Carolina's current ! combined federal-state gasoline taxation of 53.7 cents ranks ninth-highest in a nation, a American Petroleum Institute said. North Carolina's state taxation grew by 2.5 cents per gallon this past July. Opponents said a gas taxation goes up because materials to build roads asphalt among them increase at a same time because they're made from petroleum, too. "If we don't have these dollars to look after our highway system, we're making a sad mistake," said Rep. Jim Crawford, D-Granville. Jim Trogdon, a chief operating officer at a Department of Transportation, said a agency estimates capping a taxation for six months would mean 400 miles of road resurfacing and 72 bridge repairs would be delayed. The bill, which would have required cuts throughout a agency, also could have meant longer lines at driver's license offices, he said. "This is a true and significant impact," said Trogdon, adding that there are also no promises limiting a taxation will result in lower prices at a gas pump. Cap supporters said a state would still spend more money overall on bridge and road repairs with a cap. Christie Barbee, a lobbyist for a Carolina Asphalt Pavement Association, told a House Finance Committee a bill also could have placed up to 2,800 construction jobs at risk, although Gillespie said later he believed a volume was overstated. Still, a bill passed a committee by a 28-3 wide margin, with several Democrats joining Republicans in backing what's considered a politically renouned measure. "We know a political exercise when we see one," House Minority Leader Joe Hackney, D-Orange, said before a floor vote.Raleigh Bureau Chief Patrick Gannon contributed to this report.