Legislative Watch 
LEGISLATIVE
10/17/05-An Idaho state lawmaker is putting the heat on Gov. Dirk Kempthorne to suspend the state’s per-gallon tax on gasoline and diesel.
Rep. Bill Sali, R-Kuna, wrote a letter to the governor Thursday, Oct. 13, urging him to suspend the 25-cent-per-gallon fuel tax for 90 days, even if it means calling a special legislative session.
Rolling back Idaho’s fuel tax would eat into the revenue used to pay for transportation projects around the state
To compensate for the lost revenue, Sali said $40 million should be rerouted from the state’s General Fund into transportation. The General Fund posted a $214 million surplus coming into the new fiscal year, KBCI-TV reported.
“Let’s use that money that we have that belongs to the people anyway,” Sali told the Boise news station. “It belongs to taxpayers. Let’s give that back to them.”
Sali said he hasn’t hashed out the possibility of a special session with Kempthorne yet, because the governor was out of town late last week. In addition, Sali is researching whether the governor can initiate the tax break without calling lawmakers back to the capitol.
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