Editor’s note: This op-ed is by David Sunderland, a former state representative and House Republican Whip. He lives in Rutland Town.
There has been much discussion in Montpelier and the rest of our great state about the Shumlin gas tax hike that went into effect on May 1 of this year. Some have described this 6 cent per gallon tax hike as a “painful necessity.” Many in the state Legislature who voted for the tax hike, predominantly Democrats, have pointed to the desperate need for more cash to meet federal matching fund requirements. They point to all the great and necessary projects that would need to be scrapped if the Shumlin tax hike wasn’t passed by our state Legislature. It is true, Vermont’s transportation infrastructure is in disrepair. In all corners of our state we can find roads, bridges and culverts in need of repair or replacement. The only flaw with the Democrats’ assertion that our needs justify the tax hike is that it is false!
The lopsidedly Democrat Legislature argues that our crumbling state infrastructure can only be fixed through a regressive tax hike that particularly impacts the middle class. At a time when we muddle through the slowest economic recovery in our nation’s history, this tax hike on ordinary working Vermonters is puzzling. In his proposed fiscal year 2014 budget, Gov. Shumlin proposed just over $1.38 billion in General Fund state spending. His now enacted gas tax hike is expected to raise about $25 million. So, the gas tax increase on all Vermonters amounts to less than 2 percent of the total General Fund spending Gov. Shumlin has proposed.
While the Shumlin gas tax hike is a misguided and unnecessary action, what is worse is the precedent it sets when future fiscal challenges inevitably arise.
To believe that it is necessary to dip into the pockets of working Vermonters (again), you must also believe that there is no other place in the proposed state budget to save less than two percent of its spending. You must fully embrace that our state bureaucracy is so efficient and lean that there is not 2 percent of waste in the system. You must also subscribe to the belief that our state programs are run so frugally and with such strict oversight, that there is not 2 percent of “belt-tightening” that could be done in its systems and programs. Could anyone really believe that?
Of deeper concern than the tax hike itself is that there was so little consideration of anything else from the Shumlin administration or the Democrat-dominated Legislature. What does this mean for the future fiscal needs of our state? Are we to expect that when the next fiscal crisis strikes our state, it will also be dealt with using this “raise taxes first” policy? Why would we think that the next crisis would be dealt with any differently than this Transportation Fund issue? While the Shumlin gas tax hike is a misguided and unnecessary action, what is worse is the precedent it sets when future fiscal challenges inevitably arise.
Working, everyday Vermonters, families and small businesses will pay the price for this decision-making every time they fill up at the pump. So who will speak up for them the next time the state faces the choice of tax hikes versus bureaucratic belt tightening?
Vermont Republicans have the opportunity to reaffirm that they are the strong voice for Vermont’s middle class. The Vermont GOP can and should run a statewide campaign in 2014 that pledges to repeal the Shumlin gas tax hike and instead proposes reasonable, thoughtful cuts that streamline state government by identifying and eliminating wasteful and unnecessary spending in existing state programs. This is what compassionate, caring, fair leadership can do and the Vermont Republican Party is well-positioned to provide it. The Shumlin gas tax hike is not a “painful necessity” as some have said, and it need not be permanent. It is the result of poor judgment resulting from a lopsided and overreaching administration that places government ahead of the people it governs. This mistake can be corrected in 2014 and it will be up to the Vermont Republican Party and the voters of our great state to bring about the changes to do just that.
