Washington, D.C. — Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today named Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) its June 2003 Porker of the Month for proposing a massive hike in the federal gas tax to pay for a six-year $375 billion highway funding plan, the largest surface and public transportation commitment in American history.

Increasing the gas tax in this sputtering economic environment is outrageous.  With gas prices hovering at $2 a gallon, Americans are already paying high prices at the pumps.  Nonetheless, Rep. Young, Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, is steamrolling ahead with his proposal to nearly double the federal gas tax, which now stands at 18.4 cents a gallon, to more than 33 cents by 2009.

Estimates show that that for every one-cent increase in fuel taxes, the average family will pay an extra $25 per year. Couple the Chairman’s 5.4 cent increase with the average 22 cent state tax and the typical American family gasoline tax burden would reach $800 dollars a year.  According to the American Petroleum Institute, the average family currently pays about $660 a year in combined fuel taxes.

The most disturbing aspect of Young’s proposal is that it would automate the process of increasing the federal gas tax for years into the future.  By indexing the level of the gas tax to inflation, the tax would be set on cruise control, triggering an automatic increase as the rate of inflation rises without a single vote in the Congress. 

<>Chairman Young should be exploring alternatives to fund the most critical road repairs and construction needs and not first seek to pump taxpayer wallets for cash.  He could start by eliminating pork barrel transportation projects, which totaled a whopping $3.1 billion in 2002, including $750,000 for a hovercraft in Toledo, Ohio.  He could also take steps to ensure that highway funds are actually spent on maintaining the highway system, and stop the yearly process of diverting highway funds to  mass transit, pedestrian uses and bike paths.  Indeed the last gas tax increase, 4.3 cents, didn’t even go to the highway system, it was earmarked to reduce the deficit. 

For his tax-guzzling proposal, CAGW names Rep. Don Young June Porker of the Month.

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, mismanagement and abuse in government.