It can be hard for a conservative guy to support raising taxes, but that is what freshman representative for House District 47, Jerry Paxton, did when he voted for the 10-cent gas tax.
“When I first looked at it, I wasn’t crazy about it,” Paxton said.
But Paxton did some research and discovered he could support the tax based on what he found out.
Paxton said Wyoming has pulled around a quarter of a billion dollars out of the general fund over the past three years to supplement road maintenance, a rate that is unsustainable over the long term.
Only Alaska pays a lower gas tax than Wyoming and the state hasn’t raised the tax in at least 10 years. That amounts to about one cent per year, a pace slower than inflation.
About 53 percent of the fuel in Wyoming is purchased by out-of-state users and 20 to 25 percent is purchased by corporate or commercial interests, leaving a little over 20 percent that would be borne by households.
“If you are driving 20,000 miles a year, (the tax) translates to about an eight dollar per month increase,” Paxton said.
It is unlikely the full 10 cents would hit the pump since their is a limited number of wholesalers in the region that sell across state lines. The gas will get taxed before it hits retailers and some of the tax will likely be absorbed.
Wyoming also gets compensated through an interstate commerce tax agreement by semi trucks that drive through the state without refueling.
“By not having equity with states around us, we’re giving away 10 cents a gallon,” Paxton said. “(The tax increase) will bring us up to parity with states surrounding us right now.”
Senate File 104 would delegate the duties of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, currently Cindy Hill, to a director appointed by the Governor as opposed to one elected by the people.
That bill has moved out of the Senate over to the House, but Paxton won’t see it in committee. The bill was assigned to the appropriations committee instead of the education committee, which Paxton, a long-time educator, sits on.
Though Paxton opposes the bill, he does think it’s time to reconfigure the relationship between the Legislature and the Department of Education.
The best way to handle it, Paxton said, is to put a constitutional amendment before the people that would create a non-partisan elected state school board, with a representative from each county, and an appointed superintendent.
Paxton also opposes another education bill that would modify the Hathaway curriculum by adding a year of math. Paxton thinks that would be counterproductive and is an example of the Legislature trying to micromanage education.
“Too much of the time we have tried to gear our mindset toward college prep,” Paxton said. “We have a lot of rewarding jobs that don’t require a degree that pay well and there’s a demand for them.”
Allowing local school boards to have more control over curriculum would make more sense, according to Paxton. That way, people closer to the students could shape a flexible curriculum around student interests.
“When you force kids into classes, you end up watering down the class because not all kids are interested,” Paxton said, “and it takes kids out of elective classes like music or art or vocational or technical that they might be interested in.”
Paxton said, finding more markets for natural gas will help reduce the current glut keeping the price down and benefit Wyoming and its people.
A bill to require the state of Wyoming to purchase vehicles that operate on compressed natural gas is hindered in part by the lack of fueling stations. Tax incentives could be created to encourage their construction.
That’s where Paxton’s reservations about the bill come in.
“I don’t like government picking winners and losers,” Paxton said. “I like free enterprise.”
But, Paxton is co-sponsoring a bill with senator Larry Hicks that would help push natural gas into communities like Elk Mountain and Encampment. The bill would provide low interest loans to towns and counties to put in the infrastructure and then it would be up to private companies to step in and take over.
The legislature is considering extending a current law banning texting while driving to the use of handheld cell phones, and Paxton, who does a lot of driving around his district, is keeping an open mind on it.
“Distracted driving of any kind is not a good idea whether you’re eating a cheeseburger or talking on the phone,” Paxton said.
However, Paxton thinks the cell phone bill would be difficult to enforce and has concerns that people who didn’t want to use a hands-free device might stop on the side of a road to take a call and create a traffic hazard.
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