Gas Tax Proposal Likely To Pass, Wolkins Says

This is the third in a three-part series.

A gas tax proposal is making its way through the State House of Representatives and was reassigned to the Committee on Ways and Means, where Rep. David Wolkins (R-Dist. 18) serves as a member.

"I feel it will happen," Wolkins said Saturday morning at the Kosciusko County Farm Bureau. He joined State Senator Kent Adams (R-Warsaw) and State Representative Bill Ruppel (R-Dist. 22) during a legislative update.

"The proposal (House Bill 1811) is to give the majority of the revenue to county governments for local roads and bridges, at least they held a hearing on it," Wolkins said.

Because the gas tax was suspended when fuel costs went up last summer the state lost $50 million. Currently, State Police and Department of Motor Vehicle employee pay is tagged onto gas tax revenues.

The introduced bill increases the gasoline tax to 16 cents per gallon on July 1, 2002, and 18 cents per gallon on July 1, 2003. The special fuel tax would increase to 17 cents per gallon July 1, 2002.

The increased revenues are to be deposited in the motor vehicle highway account.

"If we take the state police and DMV portions out," Rupel said, "we wouldn't have the gas tax increase."

A man in attendance questioned the wisdom of allocating the money for bridges.

"I'm going to object," he said. "We have a cummulative bridge fund, our bridges are in good shape in Kosciusko County.

"The reason its on property taxes is the farmers would have a hard time getting around if they didn't have good bridges."

"Most of it should come from property taxes," Ruppel said. "It hasn't been heard in Ways and Means. He (meaning Rep. Wolkins, a Ways and Means committee member) can stop it, I hope."

"We have to start living within our means," Senator Adams said. "We, in the state government, have overstepped in the last eight years to the point of including new revenues in spending because of the economy, which has really been up high."

Ruppel advised that Build Indiana Funds, which is supported by lottery profits, would be lessening. Currently BIF are used on one time projects. Now the money will go toward paying off state debt.

"Don't look for as much money coming back this year as it has in the past," Ruppel said. "This is where the government is looking to use funds to maintain payments on some of our bills."

This year the legislators must pass a state budget and Adams said $1.5 billion is needed in new revenue.

"We have overspent," he admitted. "We haven't held spending to inflation, to the cost of living or to the population growth which is all about three percent. We've spent more than 7 or 8 percent more than we're getting in."

"There is a 'whispering campaign' beginning about raising taxes," Adams said. "We have to find the answers."

Ruppel said it will be awhile "before we get things done." He pointed at the state Department of Motor Vehicles as an example of waste and many of the governor's recent political appointments.

"When (Evan) Bayh was governor he promised to cut appointments and they rose 25 percent. O'Bannon is spending more than Bayh and there has been a 50 percent increase.

"There is a lot of waste," the representative said. "and its going to have to be cut. The problem is going back to the unions and tell them they don't have the money to pay them."

"Sometimes we put people in the IDEM and the IDNR (Indiana Department of Environmental Management and Indiana Department of Natural Resources) who might not have any training," Ruppel said. "Then we have to hire people with college degrees to support them."

Citizens took exception to the Republicans pointing fingers at the Democratic governors.

"Aren't both parties just as guilty," one asked. "Won't you fill the slots with Republicans? If you're going to point fingers, point it at both parties."

"We all pay taxes, too," Adams said. "We see the gap narrowing where you're not going to accept this a partisan dialogue. We've both got to do something. We're saying the same things, its a matter of how we work things out."

"Well," the citizen said, "bite the bullet and push it through."

Ruppel, when talking about the gambling bill earlier (see part 1, published Monday), said the Speaker of the House, John Gregg, actually held the floor open and called on four members to switch votes for the bills passage. The members changed their vote.

The audience was outraged.

"Most people don't know that," one woman said. "They don't have knowledge of that."

"We need your support," Adams said, "to get it out to the general public. If we could get hundreds of people to come to 7 a.m. meetings on Saturday morning it would help."

"If you don't solve the problem in your own House, you are the problem," the woman responded. "We don't want to hear about this [kind of thing]. We are sending you."

"Why don't you go to the newspapers and say this is happening?" she asked.

"They've got to print it and sometimes they won't," Wolkins said.

"Until you figure out how to change that [the two party system] I can go to the microphone and rant and rave and it doesn't change a thing. Until the voters change and throw us all out or change administration it is a winner take all proposition down there," Wolkins said.

"You've got to get people who are willing to be bipartisan."