The first proposal for changing how gasoline is taxed in Georgia will be introduced Thursday in the House.
House Bill 60, by Rep. Ed Setzler, R-Acworth, would eliminate the 4 percent sales tax on gasoline, create a lower, flatter state income tax and gradually raise the excise tax on fuel over the next eight years.
Efforts to reach Setzler late Wednesday were unsuccessful.
While leaders in the House, Senate and Gov. Nathan Deal all expressed support this week for a coming plan to greatly increase money available to pay for transportation projects, it is unclear if Setzler’s bill is part of those plans. Instead, it appears likely that HB 60 is being offered as a counter-proposal to whatever legislation leadership puts its support behind.
The governor, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, have yet to put their support behind any specific proposal. Among the options that a legislative study committee identified in late December were an new 1-cent state sales tax, an increase in the excise tax on gas and a re-allocation of the “fourth penny” of the 4 percent gas tax.
Many anti-tax Republicans have quietly made the argument that they could only support an increase in one tax if the plan included an equal decrease in another tax. Setzler’s bill appears to accomplish that.
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