On the recordMarch 8, 2012
this amendment No. 1517 is of major significance to Indiana, as well as to a majority of the States across this country. Most people are familiar with the fact that when they pull up to the pump, they are not only paying for the cost of gas, they are paying the tax on the cost of that gas. The Federal tax on that gasoline pumped into the tank is then sent to Washington and put into a so-called Federal gas tax fund--a trust. The word ``trust'' is somewhat of a misnomer because, like so many trusts that we create, it doesn't live up to its name. A trust means that it is safeguarded, and nobody else can touch it or use it. The trust fund was designed to collect taxes from the sale of gasoline at the Federal level and then, under a provision, return that tax back to the State. The bottom line is that the majority of States in this country are not getting back what they put in. This amendment is designed to correct that flaw, or at least that current provision, in terms of the way the trust fund is operated. My colleague from Ohio, Senator Portman, just announced an amendment that I think makes a great deal of sense. I intend to support that. This is somewhat of a similar amendment, except that what this requires is that a State receives its fair share of what it puts into the trust fund.…
