Sad Howell

There's one big under-discussed element of North Carolina lawmakers suspending the state gas tax: the finances are wildly irresponsible. Yesterday, Republican lawmakers in North Carolina's state legislature called a special session to *temporarily* suspend the state gas tax, which is 41 cents/gallon. Their suspension will only go through the end of November. (Very subtle, guys.) Suspending North Carolina's gas tax for 45 days will cost the state about $360 million. The gas tax is normally how the State of North Carolina funds repair and maintenance of its roadways, so... we've still gotta do that. So according to Republican Senate Leader Phil Berger, they will tap the state's Inflationary Reserve Fund, which has $518 million in it, to replace the funds lost. That's about 70% of the entire reserve fund. But obviously, a 45-day suspension will do nothing permanent for gas prices. It'll just dip them a little - right at election season. That's what these lawmakers are dumping 70% of the Inflationary Reserve Fund for. And the worst part? It likely won't even bring down prices as much as it sounds. Gas stations are free to charge whatever they like. They can just cut the per-gallon price 10 or 20 cents, so it looks nice, and pocket the rest as pure profit. The reason everyone's gas prices are high is because Trump launched a war against Iran, in which 19 American service members have been killed (so far) and 861 wounded, according to the Pentagon. A one-time tax gimmick does nothing to address the real problem - it's just using NC taxpayer money for a political stunt most people can see right through. Yeah, good luck with that. More on this: newsobserver.com/news/politi…