March 29, 2024

Fill-up your car before Sunday!

The governor signed a bill I opposed Wednesday morning which will take $3.7 million out of Jasper County pockets. An additional 10 cents will be added to the 26 cents per gallon you already pay in gas tax. We will pay the tax hike at the pump immediately, while most of our dollars will go to fund unneeded, new projects elsewhere, rather than repair our local roads and bridges. Clearly, we need a better solution to our infrastructure needs.

I want to thank residents of Jasper County who contacted me and expressed their views. By a margin of 7 to 1, you opposed raising the gas tax and I took those concerns to heart with my no vote.

This new law will create an unnecessary, dramatic burden on families struggling to make ends meet. It’s a regressive tax that disproportionately impacts the middle-class, particularly working-families and seniors on fixed-incomes.  An immediate tax hike also will negatively impact Main-Street, small business owners and employees. They will have no time to adjust their budgets to account for higher transportation costs. It’s not going to help our local economic recovery.

Newton, Baxter, Colfax, Mingo, Prairie City and Kellogg will pay an additional $3.7 million in gas tax. We will only receive about 30 percent of it back.

Where will the rest go? Likely to new projects in cities such as Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and the Quad-Cities, rather than repair Jasper County’s rural roads which get farmers’ crops to market and ensure local manufacturers get their products delivered. Jasper County comes out on the short-end of this equation.

How does a bad bill like this become law? It was forced through by the Speaker of the House, Senate majority leaders, and the Governor. Last week, house majority leaders replaced two committee members who refused to support the bill. This set a dangerous precedent for future legislation.

The gas tax hike passed the Senate on Tuesday morning by a vote 28-21, and not along party lines. I kept a close watch on the closing debate and vote procedure in the Senate. Literally, in the amount of time it took to walk across the Capitol Rotunda from the Senate to the House Chamber, procedure began to pass the tax hike on the House Floor. The bill passed the House by a vote of 53-46, again with members of both parties voting both ways.

It is very unusual for legislators to learn the governor has signed a bill by hearing it on the news, but that’s what happened with this one. Bright and early the next morning, without customary notifications, Gov. Branstad signed the bill so the tax could start on March 1, without delay.

There are better solutions. The responsible, common-sense solution is to annually pass effective and efficient budget bills, not raise the gas tax. Every year, the legislature approves the Rural Infrastructure Funding Budget. We need to ensure the annual Rural Infrastructure Funding Budget actually funds maintenance of rural roads and bridges instead of expensive, unnecessary, new construction projects, many in urban cities.

What’s the next step? I’m committed to fight for our local infrastructure needs. I encourage you to contact me with your thoughts on what local roads and bridges should be our highest priorities for repair. Again, much more money will leave Jasper County than what comes back. Clearly, we must use what we get effectively, on our most critical needs. It is important for Jasper County’s comeback that we handle this bad situation the best we can.

I’m proud to represent Newton, Colfax, Baxter, Mingo,Kellogg, Prairie City, Lambs Grove, Ira and Valeria. I look forward to hearing from you at 641-521-9260 or dan.kelley@legis.iowa.gov.

Visit my website at www.electkelley.com. Friend me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter.