Though at odds with the pain-at-the-pump sentiment in Congress, balanced budget rules are forcing states to look every which way to plug spending gaps – or cut programs.
New gasoline tax proposals have popped up in four states, and three other oil-producing states "are also beginning to look at ways to capture value," according to a new report by ClearView Energy, a Washington-based market research company.
"Counterintuitive as it may seem, we expect ... state-level taxation to become more likely if oil prices remain high, a function of deepening budget holes and eye-popping quarterly reports."
