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Politics May Prevent Relief at the Pump · Commentary - TJ Meadows

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: State Treasurer Larry Pack has an idea, a simple one
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: for a little while. He wants West Virginians to stop
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: paying the state's gasoline tax thirty five cents on every gallon,
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: an excise tax, a tax that pays for the roads
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: we drive, the bridges we cross, and the repairs we
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: complain about when they don't get done. It makes sense.
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  Speaker 1: Half a world away, conflict involving Iran has sent shockwaves
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: through the energy markets. Oil prices have climbed dramatically this year.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: What happens in the Strait of Hormuz doesn't stay in
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: the Strait of Hormuz. It shows up at the pump
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  Speaker 1: in Ripley and Charleston, in Welch, in Whitesville, it costs
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  Speaker 1: more to fill up, and when fuel costs rise, everything
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  Speaker 1: else costs more too. The truck hauling produce to the
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: grocery store costs more to fuel. The delivery box at
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  Speaker 1: the front door costs more to get to your door.
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: Almost everything goes up. Eventually you burn through more of
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: your paycheck with less to show for it. Pack says
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: the state can afford to help out. Some say the
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: roads cannot afford the loss. Both arguments have merit if
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  Speaker 1: the money is truly there to backfill the tax and
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  Speaker 1: keep road projects moving. Perhaps there's a compromise to be found,
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  Speaker 1: but it's complicated because this debate may have less to
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  Speaker 1: do with roads and gasoline than politics. The question isn't
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: simply whether a gas tax holiday is a good idea.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: The question is whether the people who must approve it
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  Speaker 1: want Larry Pack to get credit for it. Pack occupies
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  Speaker 1: a different lane within Republican politics than some of the
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  Speaker 1: state's current power brokers. He's more widely seen to align
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: with Shelley more Capito and Tom Tacubo than the other
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: side of the party. Some on the far right may
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: not want to give him a win. He's also viewed
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: by many as a potential future candidate for governor, a
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  Speaker 1: man with resources, connections, a threat to a second Morrissey term.
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: You don't have to be a political scientist to understand
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  Speaker 1: why those who back Governor Morrissey wouldn't want to give
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  Speaker 1: Pack a win like this. So when lawmakers evaluate this proposal,
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: do they see policy, will that take precedence, or do
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  Speaker 1: they see politics. West Virginians may soon find out, because
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: in Charleston, the hardest thing to overcome is not always
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: the price of gasoline. Sometimes it's the price of a
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: political victory and handing one to your political opponent. Only
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: the legislature and the governor can prove that hypothesis wrong.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: Will they