Ben Cline's Really Bad Idea

To ease the impact of high fuel prices, Del. Ben Cline, R-Rockbridge, has called for a 60-day suspension of Virginia’s 17.5 cents-per-gallon gasoline tax. Said Cline in a press conference Thursday: “Using less than 20 percent of the current surplus to suspend the gas tax will help Virginians who are facing tighter budgets due to high gas prices, while providing a much-needed boost to Virginia’s economy.’’

Let's start by addressing the fiscal issues. Warner administration spokesman Kevin Hall said the proposal would cost the state much more than the $146 million projected by Cline because the loss of state dollars would entail the loss of matching federal dollars for transportation. Cline disputed Hall's statement. Regardless of who's right or wrong on that particular point, there is a larger issue...

High prices are the economy's way of telling people to conserve, in this case either by shifting to more fuel efficient cars or by changing their driving habits. When people drive their cars and consume gasoline, they generate costs for society that are not reflected in the market price at the pump. Most obvious is the cost of maintaining and enlarging the state road network -- that's why there's a gas tax. Arguably, this tax is too low as it is. Other costs are less visible and impossible to measure but no less real: the costs of traffic congestion imposed on other motorists, the costs associated with air pollution, the economic costs associated with the U.S. dependence upon foreign oil, and the geopolitical costs entailed by high oil prices propping up noxious regimes like those in Iran, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.

Gas prices need to reflect the social costs of gasoline consumption and oil dependency. Lifting the gas tax, even temporarily, sends the wrong message and discourages Virginians from re-evaluating how often, and how far, they drive.

Read the story in the News Virginian here.