As expected, debate about dealing with Louisiana’s transportation infrastructure problems has begun. Last month, Rep. Steve Carter filed House Bill 632 to raise the state’s gas tax 17 cents per gallon, and the business community is divided about the proposal.
BUILD IT, a coalition of Businesses United for Improving Louisiana’s Development by Investing in Transportation Infrastructure, announced support in early April for a gas tax increase of 15 to 20 cents. However, for small businesses, this is just another in a long line of cost-increasing proposals. NFIB/LA is opposed to HB632; a recent membership survey found that 73 percent of members are against a gas tax hike.
The Greater Baton Rouge Business Report reported NFIB/LA’s opposition: “Our folks are looking at the increased sales tax, this constantly changing tax environment in our state, and this gas tax is like one more thing to pile on,” State Director Dawn Starns said. “Besides, they don’t feel like government does a good job managing the money it already has.”
Starns also told WWL Radio that many of the BUILD IT supporters are engineers and architects whose businesses would benefit from the tax hike, while many small business owners across the state don’t experience the same traffic problems and don’t feel they would see any benefit from the tax increase.
If the tax hike were passed, it would generate roughly $510 million annually to deal with a $13 billion backlog of road and bridge projects, as well as $16 billion in larger projects. In December 2016, the Task Force on Transportation Infrastructure Investment said a gas tax increase would be the most reliable funding mechanism and called for a hike of 23 cents in order to generate $700 million annually. Drivers currently pay 38.4 cents per gallon in state and federal taxes.
