Democrats and their tax-loving friends in the media will tell you it’s just a few pennies state lawmakers want to add to the sky-rocketing cost of gasoline, plus more fees for online purchases, food deliveries, and Uber.
But those pennies would accumulate $4 billion for politicians to spend on as-yet-to-be-specified projects that fall into the general category of transportation.
When Coloradans fill up their gas tanks with 15 gallons of unleaded fuel, $6 of their total is already going towards state and federal taxes.
That’s with 22 cents a gallon in state taxes and 18 cents in federal taxes.
The new proposal Democrats and Gov. Polis are pushing through the state legislature would add another 8 cents to the gas tax, bringing the total tax per gallon to 48 cents.
But wait, there’s more!
The tax package also includes:
- 25 cents for delivery services including Grubhub, Amazon, even FedEx.
- 30 cents for Uber and Lyft rides.
- $9 annual fee on electric fees that jumps to $90 in ten years.
Those pennies sure add up fast!
Here’s how the $4 billion would be spent:
- $2.7 billion would go into a fund for as-yet-named transportation projects.
- $366 million for “multimodal transportation projects.”
- $323 million for electric-vehicle charging infrastructure.
- $320 million for fleet-electrification incentives.
- $106 million towards meeting air quality standards.
- $81 million for public transit.
The public won’t get a chance to vote on the proposal. Lawmakers plan to pass the taxes and fees through legislative fiat, making an end run around the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.
If raising the gas tax is such a good idea, @COSenDem, why not let the people vote on it?
Oh, that’s right, they don’t actually want it.
Matter of fact, a total of Coloradans have called and asked us to tax them more.
Where is Office Assistant™️ when you need him? pic.twitter.com/fZAdY3bCqa
— Colorado Senate Republicans (@ColoSenGOP) March 18, 2021