Maybe? Maybe no. Drivers could get a gas-tax vacation Texas House votes to halt 20-cent levy for 90 days, but Senate isn't yet sold By GARY SCHARRER Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau AUSTIN — With pump prices surging toward $3 and possibly beyond this summer, the Texas House voted by a wide margin Tuesday to temporarily save motorists 20 cents a gallon every time they fuel up. Call it "tax-free gas" for the summer driving season, Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, said after the House tentatively approved his amendment 118-16. But don't spend that savings just yet. State senators also must vote for the measure before it can land on Gov. Rick Perry's desk. And they don't seem quite as enthusiastic. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said the suspension of the gasoline tax isn't a done deal, "particularly at a time when we're trying to find more resources to build highways and reduce congestion." But Martinez Fischer remained optimistic the Senate will bow to Texans growing increasingly weary of higher gas prices. "My constituents are saying, 'Gas is too high,' and I imagine the Senate is hearing from the same constituents," he said. His amendment to a gas-tax collection bill would repeal the state's gasoline tax for 90 days, which would cost Texas an estimated $500 million to $700 million toward highway construction and public education. But the proposal would make up for it by sapping the $8 billion budget surplus, currently split almost evenly between money set aside for future school property tax cuts and the state's Rainy Day fund. "That fund goes to times when we are in crisis and, right now, with gas prices through the roof, there is a crisis," Martinez Fischer said. "The last time I checked, that money belongs to the people of Texas." Property tax relief first Senate Finance Chairman Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, called the idea "very creative." But he predicted the tax holiday would not survive the Senate. "The surplus needs to be used to pay for property tax relief. That's what we're going to do," Ogden said. Martinez Fischer said the average homeowner in his district will save $79 in school property tax cuts — less than what a two-car family could save under a 90-day gas tax freeze. Also, he noted that airlines don't pay any state tax on jet fuel they buy in Texas. "If it's good enough for them, it's good enough for the average working family," Martinez Fischer said. Gov. Rick Perry doesn't think the tax reprieve goes far enough. Perry has called for lawmakers to deliver $2.5 billion in tax relief this session. While he applauds lawmakers for looking at ways to reduce Texans' tax burden, he believes taxpayers deserve more than $500 million in relief when the state has a record budget surplus, Perry spokesman Ted Royer said.
