Tuesday May 5, 2009
A new bill, being proposed by Senator Kay Hutchinson, will allow Texas to keep all of the money that it collects in gas taxes. It is one of 30 states that actually send more of its tax revenue to Washington than it actually receives for road projects. Repairing and building roads is often performed using funds collected from gas taxes. When Hutchinson first became a senator 15 years ago, Texas received only 72 cents of every $1 collected in taxes. However, now the state gets 92 cents for every dollar.
The bill proposed by Hutchinson will ensure that Texas gets to keep 100 percent of every dollar collected from gas taxes. This would allow the state to make necessary repairs and updates to its interstates and roadways. Most Texans are in favor of this change, because it will ensure that all Texas dollars go to fund Texas projects. Not all states are created equally, because of the size and number of inhabitants of each state.
For example, Alaska received $4.21 for each tax dollar collected in 2006. West Virginia received $2.12. This additional payout is funded by the money taken from state such as Texas, which the government views as having a surplus. In August, Hutchinson said, “We are very underfunded because we're a high growth state, and we need to be able to use our dollars in a more efficient way."
