Rep. Cox Denounces Plan to Increase Gasoline Tax by Another 5 Cents

A conservative Orange County lawmaker emerged Tuesday as a key congressional opponent of a proposal to boost the federal gasoline tax by 5 cents a gallon to finance a five-year, $154-billion national transportation initiative under consideration by the House.

At a Capitol press conference, Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) joined House Minority Whip Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and Rep. Bill Archer (R-Tex.), ranking Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, to denounce the plan to increase the federal tax to 19 cents a gallon. It rose from 9 to 14 cents a gallon last January.

Cox, one of only seven members of the House Committee on Public Works and Transportation who voted against the measure when it was approved by the panel last Thursday, said he opposes the bill even though it would finance $6.8 million in street improvements in his district.

“This is a tax penalty on working Americans,” Cox said. “Inside the transportation bill is mammoth new spending . . . on pork barrel projects, not the kind of highway and transit improvements that the states and localities are seeking.”

The only other Orange County congressman on the public works panel, Rep. Ron Packard (R-Carlsbad), supported the transportation bill and the gas tax increase in last week’s vote. Packard’s district includes southern Orange County.

Packard, also a conservative, said he backed the tax hike because the transportation bill “contains important provisions which will help to relieve congestion in Southern California as well as benefit our nation as a whole.” Packard’s district is slated to receive $30 million for two special highway projects--both in San Diego County--designated under the bill.

By assuming such a visible role in opposition to the gasoline tax increase, Cox is likely to annoy ranking Democrats and Republicans on the public works panel who fashioned the new transportation bill, congressional aides said. That, in turn, could hurt his future standing on the committee.

On the other hand, other observers said, Cox’s action is likely to play well with his conservative constituents. It represents a strong anti-tax stand at a time when Republicans are seeking to regain ground they lost last year when GOP leaders agreed to a deficit-reduction deal with Democrats that included substantial tax hikes.

Cox said he believes that his opposition to the gas tax will increase his stature on the public works committee, rather than diminish it. Cox noted that the transportation bill would provide his mid-county congressional district with $6.8 million in special project funds to widen portions of Bristol Street through Santa Ana, even though he opposes both the tax hike and “pork-barrel” projects. Local officials had asked for nearly $27 million for the project.

“I’ve been visited by the ranking member of the full committee, the ranking member of the subcommittee . . . and all of them are most anxious to help me in any way possible,” Cox said. “I think that if anything, my . . . consistent opposition to the gas tax has probably assisted me somewhat in getting things I want.”

Orange County’s other congressmen--Reps. William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton), Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-Long Beach)--oppose the tax hike, but none is a member of the public works panel. Rohrabacher represents northwestern Orange County.

The House Ways and Means Committee is scheduled to consider the nickel gas tax increase today. Archer predicted that the vote “is going to be very close and could go either way.” If approved by the Ways and Means Committee, the legislation will move to the House floor later this week.

While the measure may pass the House, Gingrich said he believes that its backers will not be able to muster the necessary two-thirds vote to thwart a promised presidential veto. The Bush Administration has said it will veto any transportation legislation that contains a gas tax increase.

The Senate has passed its own transportation bill, which calls for spending $123 billion over five years on programs to rebuild and improve the nation’s highways, bridges, bus and commuter rail systems. The Senate bill does not call for a gasoline tax increase and does not include the more than $6 billion in special projects contained in the House measure.

The Administration has proposed a transportation bill that calls for spending $105 billion over five years.