The battle between Indiana gubernatorial candidates Jill Long Thompson and Mitch Daniels has begun in earnest. She's pushing a suspension of the gas tax, and he says no -- or at least not yet.
Long Thompson notes that Indiana is one of only seven states to apply a sales tax to fuel.
"With gas prices now averaging $4.11 a gallon" -- sorry, that was July 1 when she said this -- "and expected to continue to rise throughout the summer months, it is time for the governor to stop stalling and take action to help Hoosiers cope with these excessive prices," she said.
Daniels said he doesn't have the statutory authority to suspend the gas tax now, although he wouldn't complain if the General Assembly saw fit to give him that power.
Long Thompson said the governor has not only the power but also the precedent. Gov. Frank O'Bannon suspended the sales tax in 2000, when the pump price was less than half of what it is today. Daniels said O'Bannon didn't have the authority to take that action then, and Daniels has Attorney General Steve Carter -- a fellow Republican -- backing him up.
It is a political quirk that Long Thompson, a Democrat, and presumptive presidential nominee John McCain, a Republican, are aligned on this issue while Daniels, a Republican, and presumptive presidential nominee Barack Obama, a Democrat, take the opposing view.
Regardless, this must be decided not on the basis of politics but on fiscal prudence.
Indiana's 7 percent sales tax does add injury to insult each time a Hoosier fills up, especially when it's a big tank like those in trucks and sports utility vehicles.
But suspending the sales tax was easier when Indiana had a big surplus in 2000. That's no longer the case now.
There are many transportation projects that require funding from that sales tax. What would happen to those projects if the funding for them suddenly slowed to a trickle?
Suspending the state gas sales tax in Indiana for 60 days, as Long Thompson suggests, would provide small, immediate relief at the pump for consumers, but it would jeopardize much-needed infrastructure work. Don't do it.
