ACP Pubs

Steve Hudson

The Gas Tax Holiday Conundrum
April 30, 2008

Being in the words business, I like uncommon words - words that get used just now and then – words like “conundrum.” It’s got several definitions, and most dictionaries list one of them as “anything that puzzles” or "something that is a dilemma.”

That’s what we’ve got with the gas tax holiday. Lots of folks are talking about it – politicians, journalists, construction executives, even moms that have to make 50 trips a day to the school, store, and T-ball practice.

There are all kinds of views being tossed around.

Being the inquisitive journalistic type, I decided to go investigating the other day. Retrieving the phone from under a pile of fishing tackle, where it had been inadvertently buried and thus lost for a full hour, I started to investigate with zeal.

First up was a call to a family friend who’s got five kids. This particular mom spends a lot of time in her minivan.

“Anything that cuts what we have to spend on gas would be good,” she said. “In fact, you could say I’m for any kind of tax holiday. Do you have any idea what it costs to do everything that needs to be done with five kids?”

Next I investigated the political scene, calling a couple of buddies who are active in things political. “Our party’s view is…” said one. The other said, “Our party’s view is…”

After that I decided it was time for refreshment. Needing to top off the tank in the little red pickup too, I hopped in the truck and drove up the street to the corner gas-station-slash-convenience-store. Paying for my soft drink and my gas, I asked the guy behind the counter what he thought about gas tax holidays.

“Holiday?” he said. “I think our next holiday is Memorial Day, and I think me and the family are going to go to the lake!”

By then it was 11 a.m., and since I had a lunch meeting with a contractor I had to put further research on hold. But the drive to continue investigating was strong, and so at lunch I asked him what he thought about the whole gas tax holiday thing.

He had an interesting answer.

“We’ve got to have money to build and maintain our highways,” he said. “And even though I’m not directly in the highway industry, highway construction helps fuel the projects that my company does build.”

I thought he was done and started putting away my pen and notepad.

“But then there's this,” he said, and so I pulled the pen and pad back out. “It’s costing my family a bunch in gas money to do anything. We spend a pile on gas toting the kids around. We don't take vacations and trips because the gas costs so much. We probably won’t travel too much this summer because gas is so expensive.”

He paused, then continued.

“Everything is going up but my salary,” he said. “I don’t know if a gas tax holiday would make a big difference – I don’t even know if the oil companies would pass it on to the consumer – but it might make a little difference. So is a gas tax holiday good? I guess it depends on whether I’m talking as a contractor or as a father trying to make ends meet.”

Conundrums, conundrums. What do you think? I’d like to know.

Posted by Steve Hudson on April 30, 2008 | Comments (0)