Gilbert says gas tax increase is cheaper than toll roads

While we don’t try to make the GA blog an election update, we thought we would start following the elections and post a few items, especially where candidates actually make concrete proposals. That policy probably means there will be few opportunities for postings, but here’s the first one.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Hank Gilbert announced his transportation proposals for Texas. It includes an immediate eight cent per gallon tax increase plus indexing the tax to inflation. It’s rare for a candidate for any office - let alone governor - to propose a tax increase. But Gilbert says it’s cheaper per fill-up than a single toll road ride. The press seemed to ignore Gilbert’s announcement except for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s PoliTex blog and this DMN editorial.