Republican candidate Nikki Haley's plan to eliminate the federal gas tax appears to contradict a plan she proposed as South Carolina governor to increase the state gas tax.
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley recently highlighted her economic plan which included a proposal to completely eliminate the federal gasoline tax, a provision that appears to contradict policy she supported while governor of South Carolina.
"We’ll completely eliminate the federal gas and diesel tax. That’s 18 cents per gallon in savings on gas and 24 cents on diesel," Haley remarked last week in New Hampshire. "That will help families struggling with record high gas prices."
"And we don’t need a federal gas tax to fund our roads," she continued. "We’ll keep building our roads with the trillions Washington still has, and we’ll stop diverting money to green giveaways. Road money should build roads, not bike paths and hiking trails."
Haley's remarks and proposal to abolish the federal gas tax — which came during a speech on boosting U.S. economic freedom — appear to fly in the face of a 2016 proposal she championed to fund infrastructure projects in South Carolina by raising the state gas tax by 10 cents per gallon gradually implemented over the course of three years.
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In January 2016, then Gov. Haley unveiled her budget proposal which included the gas tax hike as part of her effort to fix roads, local outlet WSPA-TV reported at the time.
The plan to increase the state gas tax, though, was coupled with a proposal to cut the state's top income tax bracket from 7% top 5% over a decade. Overall, the plan, which was never passed in South Carolina during Haley's tenure, would have resulted in a net decrease in taxes and Haley vowed to "veto anything that is a net tax increase."
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Haley also endorsed the plan, and its gas tax hike, one year prior during her annual State of the State address in early 2015.
"Yes, we do have the third-lowest gas tax in America. Gas prices are now down to their lowest level since 2009. Non-South Carolinians who visit our state would pay a portion of the tax. And we would boost the revenue stream that is dedicated to improving our roads and highways," Haley said during the speech, according to The Augusta Chronicle.
But critics of the plan said it would decrease critical revenue needed for key state programs since the gas tax increase would be countered by the income tax cut.
In addition, Grover Norquist, the president of the right-leaning Americans for Tax Reform, backed Haley's plan at the time. However, Republican state legislators pushed back against Haley's plan and Norquist's endorsement, arguing instead for a proposal to generate road building revenue by increasing the sales tax on gasoline at the wholesale level while cutting the state’s retail gas tax rate.
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"It’s clear that (Norquist) is trying to assist Gov. Haley in moving her plan forward," state Rep. Jim Merrill said, The Post and Courier reported. "But at the same time, Rep. (Gary) Simrill and the committee that (House) Speaker (Jay) Lucas put together have been working on this for a long time as well."
The Haley campaign declined to comment.
