Politico
Rep. Heath Shuler is floating a plan to suspend the 18.4 cents-per-gallon federal gas tax for 45 days.
Shuler's plan would offset the gas tax income by eliminating various tax incentives for oil companies for one year, potentially putting Republicans in the sticky situation of choosing between Big Oil and lowering taxes on drivers as gasoline hits $4 per gallon. It's also one of the first concrete plans this year to curb the gas tax — always a tempting political target.
Last week in an interview with ABC News, House Speaker John Boehner opened the door to repealing some oil industry tax incentives although his aides quickly attempted to walk back the quote.
Shuler (D-N.C.)'s proposal is an amendment to offshore drilling legislation expected on the House floor later this week.
The House Rules Committee will meet Wednesday afternoon to discuss which amendments will be allowed on the underlying bill (H.R. 1229) from Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) that would force the Interior Department to expedite drilling permits in the Gulf of Mexico.
Other amendments submitted to the Rules Committee would make permanent the eastern Gulf of Mexico drilling ban scheduled to expire in 2022, add to oil company liability and install safety reforms suggested by the administration's Oil Spill Commission.
An amendment — very unlikely to be accepted — from Rep. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.) would rename the bill the “Drilling a Bigger Hole in the Deficit Act."
The Rules panel will also consider amendments to another Hastings bill (H.R. 1230) that would require the Obama administration to conduct offshore lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of Virginia that the administration has either delayed or canceled. GOP leaders currently plan to bring that measure to the floor Thursday.