Will a Tax Hike Fix Your Roads?

The South Carolina General Assembly is currently considering raising the tax on gasoline, as well as a host of other taxes and fees, supposedly to pay for road maintenance. If the measure becomes law, you’ll be sending  more money to Columbia – a lot more.

But will it result in better roads? Unfortunately, the answer is No. South Carolina’s transportation agencies don’t have a revenue problem. They have a structural problem – meaning they’re controlled by people you, the taxpayer, can’t hold accountable. Power over road funding lies almost completely in the legislature: When it comes to the question of which roads get funded, in other words, nearly every important decision-maker is either a lawmaker or a legislative appointee.

That’s why South Carolinians have begun asking their lawmakers a simple and fair question: If this tax and fee increase becomes law, can you assure us that our roads will be fixed? The answers we’ve seen have ranged from “Maybe at some point” to “I’m not sure.”

We’d like to know how lawmakers answer, so we’ve created a simple way for you, their constituents, to ask them. Find your lawmaker below, click to email him or her, and be sure to mention which roads you’d like to see repaired. (We’ve included the governor, too, since, although she has only limited influence over the funding of roads, she does have some – and she does support a gas tax increase, albeit as part of a “swap.”)

Forward any answers to us (in**@*************il.org), and we’ll post them at TheNerve.org. If you have any questions, call Emily Gould at (803) 779-5022, ext. 116, or e-mail her at em***@*************il.org.

From all of us at the South Carolina Policy Council, thank you.

Thank you so much for all you do.