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Menendez Calls for 'Tax Holiday' to Cut Fuel Costs

Posted on: Thursday, 27 April 2006, 15:00 CDT

By Herb Jackson, The Record, Hackensack, N.J.

Apr. 26--WASHINGTON -- Motorists struggling with the high cost of gasoline would get an immediate 18-cent-a-gallon break under a plan offered Tuesday by Sen. Robert Menendez and several other Senate Democrats.

Menendez, of Hoboken, will lead an effort, which he invited Republicans to join, to insert a two-month federal "gas tax holiday" in an emergency spending bill the Senate is debating to fund war operations and hurricane relief.

New Jersey's gasoline prices have increased every day this month, reaching almost $2.95 a gallon for regular on Tuesday, AAA reported. That's an increase of almost 52 cents a gallon in the past month and almost 79 cents from a year ago.

"This amendment will provide $100 million per day in relief directly to Americans," Menendez said.

To replace the revenue to the federal Highway Trust Fund currently provided by taxes of 18 cents a gallon for gas and 24 cents a gallon for diesel, Menendez called for repealing a series of tax breaks Congress had provided for oil companies.

President Bush also called for repealing some tax breaks for the oil industry, which has been enjoying record profits. But Bush said the repeal should be phased in over 10 years, while Menendez said it should be immediate.

Democrats, however, laid the blame for the gas prices at Bush's doorstep.

"What happen to Iraq oil, Mr. President? You said Iraqi oil would pay for the war. Ain't seen no money. Ain't seen no oil," Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland said.

High gas prices dominated several news conferences and floor speeches Tuesday as Congress returned from its Easter-Passover break with constituents' complaints ringing in their ears. Several Democrats said they would push for a windfall profits tax, while Democrats and Republicans, including Bush, called for a crackdown on price gouging.

In fact, the Federal Trade Commission has been conducting a price-gouging investigation as a result of a requirement Democrats inserted into an energy bill enacted last year. A report on that investigation is due next month, said Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.

When gas prices soared in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Menendez introduced a bill in the House in September that provided for a one-year, 10-cent cut in federal gas taxes, funded by a windfall profits tax on oil. Discussions about reintroducing that bill with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid last week led to Menendez's taking the lead on a gas-tax holiday in the emergency appropriations bill.

Menendez was appointed in January and is seeking a full term in November, so Senate Democrats have given him several chances to step into the spotlight.

A news conference he led on gas prices came an hour after one he led in the same room on the need to provide more funding for port security.

Menendez will be trying to amend the emergency spending bill to include that funding as well.

Staff Writer Kevin G. DeMarrais contributed to this article, which includes material from The Associated Press.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Record, Hackensack, N.J.

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Source: The Record - Hackensack, New Jersey

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