Bomke urges consideration of bill to cut motor fuel sales tax         

[MAY 3, 2006]  SPRINGFIELD -- Senate Republican lawmakers are urging the consideration of legislation intended to help Illinois consumers by reducing the price of gasoline, said state Sen. Larry Bomke, R-Springfield.

Bomke is a primary sponsor of Senate Bill 3004, a proposal to cut the state's portion of the sales tax on motor fuel and gasohol from 6.25 percent to a rate of 1.25 percent, effectively saving motorists and other consumers 5 cents per dollar.

"The skyrocketing gas prices are not just affecting people in Illinois, but across the country," Bomke said. "While state legislators can't force oil exporters and producers to lower the price at the pump, by reducing Illinois' portion of the sales tax on fuel we hope to reduce the cost of gasoline for everyone in the state."

Illinois' gasoline tax is currently the fourth highest in the country. The state's treasury takes in another $2 million in sales tax revenue for every penny that gas prices increase, and the bipartisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability estimated last fall that the state's windfall revenues could exceed $175 million this fiscal year, based on the 6.25 percent sales tax on an average price of $2.72 per gallon. Bomke noted that the state has already collected millions of dollars in unexpected windfall sales tax revenue resulting from the rising cost of gasoline.

"Illinois has already benefited from the windfall generated by the high price of gasoline, and it looks like the state is poised to surpass the original $175 million in windfall revenues. Now it's now time to help consumers, particularly those living on a fixed income -- senior citizens and low-income residents, for example," said Bomke.

"Farmers and businesses are really being hurt by the exorbitant cost of fuel, as well. If there is a chance that reducing the state sales tax on motor fuel will ease the strain on the taxpayers' pocketbooks, I think that lawmakers should be able to at least consider the legislation we have introduced."

Currently, Senate Bill 3004 is being held in the Senate Rules Committee and has not been released for review. Bomke commented that another, similar piece of legislation, House Bill 5785, has been introduced in the Illinois House to suspend the sales gas tax from May 15 until Sept. 15.

[News release from Illinois Senate Republicans]