Buying Votes With Gas Tax Rebates

First raise gas taxes. Then promise ‘relief’ with a one-time check.

WSJ editorial.

"State government coffers are swelling even as many Americans are feeling poorer amid surging inflation and gasoline prices. But instead of cutting taxes, some governors want to spend their surpluses buying political relief before the November election.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom last week said he planned to “put money back in the pockets of Californians to address rising gas prices” by sending checks to drivers—more details to come. The state’s gasoline prices are averaging $5.79 per gallon compared to $4.29 nationwide. Californians can blame hefty taxes and climate mandates.

In 2010 Californians were paying a mere 25 to 30 cents a gallon more than the national average. Then Democrats established a low-carbon fuel standard and cap-and-trade program to reduce fossil-fuel consumption and finance electric cars. These add at least 46 cents a gallon to gas prices, according to the Western States Petroleum Association.

Democrats also raised the state excise gas tax by 12 cents a gallon in 2017 and indexed it for inflation, purportedly to repair roads and bridges. Much of the proceeds have gone instead to mass transit. Californians now pay upward of 70 cents a gallon in state and local gasoline and sales taxes versus about 20 cents in Texas and Arizona. 

While projecting a $46 billion surplus, Democrats in Sacramento have rejected a gas tax cut. They also refuse to relax climate regulations. “One thing we cannot do is repeat the mistakes of the past by embracing polluters,” Mr. Newsom says. Gentry climate progressives favor high gas prices because they make electric cars more attractive.

But moderate Democratic legislators are feeling election-year pressure to ease rising prices for low- and middle-class voters. Enter Mr. Newsom’s proposal for a “gas tax rebate.” Unlike broad-based tax cuts, such direct payments let Democrats distribute money to select voter groups. Maybe electric vehicle owners will get a check.

Illinois Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker is also promising to “alleviate some pressure on Illinois’ working families,” after having doubled the state gas tax to 38 cents a gallon in 2019. His proposal: Suspend this year’s inflation-adjusted gas tax increase (two cents a gallon) and send $300 property tax credits to middle-income homeowners.

That’s about as much as inflation is costing the average household in a single month, and it doesn’t come close to offsetting higher property taxes from increasing housing values and pension payments. The Democratic strategy is to raise taxes and then redistribute a small cut of the revenues to buy votes.

Last year New York Democrats raised the state’s top income-tax rate to 14.8% from 12.7%. Now armed with a $5 billion surplus, Gov. Kathy Hochul wants to raise annual property tax rebates by a couple hundred dollars for homeowners outside of New York City who earn up to $500,000. That won’t cover half of this winter’s increase in New Yorkers’ heating bills.

States and localities have received $900 billion in federal Covid relief. Soaring asset prices have lifted income and property tax revenue while inflation has pushed earners into higher tax brackets. While many governors are returning the money in tax cuts that benefit everyone, Democrats in high-tax states are sharing surpluses only with a politically favored few."