HCR21: urging the reduction of the federal gasoline and diesel fuel excise tax.

HCR 21 - AS INTRODUCED

2003 SESSION

03-2117

06/09

HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 21

A RESOLUTION urging the reduction of the federal gasoline and diesel fuel excise tax.

SPONSORS: Rep. Buhlman, Hills 66; Rep. Slocum, Hills 47

COMMITTEE: State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs

ANALYSIS

This house concurrent resolution urges the federal government to reduce the federal excise tax on gasoline and diesel fuel.

03-2117

06/09

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Three

A RESOLUTION urging the reduction of the federal gasoline and diesel fuel excise tax.

Whereas, the federal government enacted the first excise tax on gasoline and diesel fuel, at a rate of one cent per gallon, by the Revenue Act of 1932, which became effective on June 6, 1932; and

Whereas, the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 provided for a significant expansion in the federal-aid highway program as detailed in the Highway Revenue Act of 1956, which created the Highway Trust Fund, to finance the construction of the Interstate Highway System; and

Whereas, the construction of the Interstate Highway System, which was the main basis for increasing the federal gasoline and diesel fuel excise tax, is now completed; and

Whereas, the state of New Hampshire is fully capable of maintaining and improving the sections of the interstate highway system within its jurisdiction, and designing and constructing all intrastate transportation projects, such as the Manchester Airport Access Road, by applying sound engineering judgment and experience, and an environmentally responsible approach to construction, without the participation of federal agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers, which are involved when federal funds are used; and

Whereas, the state of New Hampshire is experienced in working with transportation and environmental protection officials of contiguous states to design and complete transportation projects that cross or meet at state borders without the intervention of federal highway officials; and

Whereas, critically needed transportation projects can be completed more cost effectively and in less time in New Hampshire by the New Hampshire department of transportation, to the measurable and deserved benefit of New Hampshire residents; and

Whereas, without the use of federal funds on New Hampshire transportation projects, lawsuits involving federal laws, rules, and requirements for transportation projects will lose standing, and delays associated with such lawsuits will be eliminated, to the great benefit of New Hampshire residents; and

Whereas, according to the Congressional Research Service's report entitled RL30304 The Federal Excise Tax on Gasoline and the Highway Trust Fund: A Short History dated March 29, 2000, Congress intends to decrease the federal gasoline and diesel fuel excise tax rate by 14.1 cents, from 18.4 cents to 4.3 cents per gallon, beginning on October 1, 2005; and

Whereas, an increase of approximately 12.5 cents in the state gasoline and diesel fuel excise tax would result in additional state revenues of approximately $100 million per year, based on the typical sale of 800 million gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel per year, which the state can apply directly to in-state transportation projects without depending on the politics and largesse of the federal government, and without an increase in cost at the pump; and

Whereas, the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to the United States Constitution remain in full force and effect, and any treaty law purported to be relevant to transportation improvements is subservient to the United States Constitution's Supremacy Clause; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:

That the general court of the state of New Hampshire does hereby petition the federal government, through our United States senators and representatives, to reduce the federal gasoline and diesel fuel excise tax, from 18.4 cents to 4.3 cents per gallon, to become effective October 1, 2004, in order that new Hampshire, and the other 49 states, can subsequently exercise the option to increase the state gasoline and diesel fuel excise tax to plan, design, and construct intrastate transportation projects more efficiently, to the benefit of residents of the state, and without any increase in the amount of gasoline and diesel fuel excise tax that consumers pay at the pump in New Hampshire; and

That copies of this resolution be forwarded by the house clerk to the President of the United States, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the President of the United States Senate, and the members of the New Hampshire congressional delegation.