Government : In the Statehouse: Fuel tax increase vote facing Iowa Legislature

After being gone for two weeks and in the first week there was a snowstorm, I was dreading getting home at 9 p.m. and having to clear out the drive to get my car in. You can imagine how surprised I was to see my neighbor, Don Miller, had plowed me out, cleaned my sidewalks off and cleared a way to the back door on the deck. Now that was a great Valentine! Thank you, Don! It's amazing to have good neighbors. Some other personal news, most of you know my beloved dog Trixie from my campaign pictures. She is 18 1/2 and this year I found housing that she could come with me to Des Moines. Nothing like coming back after a hard day to your dog, right? Of course, at the condo, I take her out on the leash. On Friday, I got home to Mount Auburn and she got lost in the yard. It took some tears to get me to admit she can't see at all anymore. Her health otherwise is good, so I'm taking her out with the leash now. We will both feel safer. You know I believe every day working at the Capitol is a blessing and I try to tell you about the fun parts, but it is also a big responsibility to carry. It's weird that as soon as you say your oath, you feel the responsibility for all of you land on your shoulders. A wonderful thing. That's why I do my best to make votes based on facts -- by getting your input and doing my research. One that is turning into a real killer decision is the fuel tax vote coming up. The last time the fuel tax was increased was in the late 80s. In 2006, a comprehensive study was done on what our road/bridge needs are and how much money it was going to take to meet the needs then and into the future. We were short about $220 million dollars a year. At that time, I made a commitment to support an increase and have said so every year. Fast forward to 2015 and we still haven't increased the fuel tax. 9 years x $220 million and our lack of money for maintenance is showing. Cities and counties are borrowing money to fix roads, when they should be able to count on money from the Road Use Tax Fund. Every penny of gas tax is around $22 million and the dollars go into the Road Use Tax Fund that is a Constitutionally Protected fund that only is to cover roads and bridges. Two years ago, the Governor told the DOT to find efficiencies. They did and have reduced spending by $50 million in multiple ways, like merging garages, etc. The dollars saved went to road repairs. We know there are more ways to find savings, but add them all up and no way do they come close to $220 million a year. After reaching out to you, my constituents, I received input on both sides of a fuel tax increase. Nobody wants to pay more, but some can see it is needed. Nobody wants to vote for it either, but some see the need. It is my job to make these decisions and I was supporting it. Like so many things here, a couple Democrats and Republicans and the Governor come together to see what everyone can agree on and then they try to get the votes needed. When we got the bill last week from that select group, the bill has some 'deals' in it, that I'm not sure I can vote for. The bill is supposed to be a money raiser for the Road Use Tax Fund, with a 10 cent fuel tax increase, $220,000,000. But included in that bill are a couple of decreases. One adds for another 10 years, the ethanol differential that reduces the Road Use Tax Fund about $7,500,000 a year. Okay, we are raising $220 million a year and then so people will buy ethanol blends, we give ethanol $7,500,000 of it in the same bill? I support ethanol and have voted yes on this every year, but c'mon, let ethanol stand on its own. Nobody wants to increase taxes and we add that? Also added was the same thing for biodiesel, only 3 cents a gallon break instead of the ethanol 2 cents. Again, these are supports for our Iowa economy, but it makes it harder to vote for the bill...adding to the cost of gas to fix roads and then cutting breaks in the same bill. A few other things were added and I'm not as committed as I was before, but will do my best to keep you taxpayers at the desk with me when I make the final vote. I know one thing for sure. The fuel tax is the cheapest hit to your wallet and it hits harder the people who drive more, like me. That's the way it should be. I don't want people who drive to church once a week paying higher registration fees again. Stay tuned. Also, hopefully this week we will finish out the supplemental state aid debate and get it to the Governor. We sent our bill over to the Senate 3 weeks ago and finally got their response late last week. Stay tuned there too. Our first legislative coffee is next Saturday, February 21st at 10:00 in the Marengo Public Library. Senator Kapucian, Representative Maxwell and I will be there to share what we've been working on and to hear your input. Be there or be square! If you have any concerns or questions, give me a call at 515-281-6879 or send an email to dawn.pettengill@legis.iowa.gov. I'm here for you!