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Samantha Hayes ReportingGasoline prices certainly have our attention tonight. Those prices have our Governor's attention too, and he's exploring ways to help.
The price of gasoline is about a dollar more than it was a year ago. That causes lots of Utahns to cut back or change driving habits. But along with efforts to conserve, Governor Jon Hunstman, Jr. is also looking for ways to ease the burden.
Governor Hunstman told KCPW radio, in part, "he's open to any option that would alleviate the burden..." One idea is to suspend Utah's gasoline tax. We all like a tax break, so how about one at the pump?
Kim Waggoner: “They are spending so much money on so many other things, they ought to at least make gas affordable for people trying to get work who do have jobs.”
It’s just an idea right now, but Utah House Speaker Greg Curtis has not yet talked with Governor Jon Huntsman about suspending the gas tax, but he already has some concerns about how to spend the state's million dollar surplus.
Greg Curtis, House Speaker: “We just need to make sure we don't look at it in a vacuum right now. The surplus we have right now is about 80 percent uniform school fund money and we don't what to take away from school children."
Curtis says a potential moratorium on the gas tax would cost Utah a lot of money. State officials say the gas tax brings in more than 1 million dollars a day. 75 percent goes to state roads, 25 percent is for local communities.
Greg Curtis: “How do our local governments deal with it? How do they take care of their road crews and other things because that's where they get their road crew money."
A gas-tax suspension would require the Governor to call a special session of the Legislature.
Steve Blaine, Herriman: “I kind of tend to believe the market should take care of itself. We shouldn't subsidize what's going on with gas prices; I think it will level out it will take care of itself."
The Governor in Georgia imposed a month long suspension on gas taxes and other state and considering doing the same.
