Playing politics with the pump

House Republicans had a news conference this morning to tell reporters about their idea to get rid of the state’s sales tax on gasoline. The move could save motorists upward of a quarter per gallon IF the station operators pass along all the savings.

Illinois imposes a sales tax on the total price per gallon. That tax is atop other gasoline taxes. The gasoline taxes, in theory, pay for road construction. The added sales tax can pay for anything in state government.

But getting rid of the sales tax would cost state government hundreds of millions of dollars at a time when the current budget is $750 million in the red, more than a billion dollars in health care bills are annually pushed off to the next budget year to make the books look balanced and the administration is considering doing the same with school funding checks.

Don’t look for the House GOP idea to go far. Keep in mind that Democrats control the entire process in state government. It’s a key point not lost on those who actually want to get something done, as witnessed by this memo.

The Illinios Alliance of Administrators of Special Education is pushing increased funding for special education and wants its members to call lawmakers to support the push. The memo to members stresses who should be contacted.

"This message should be sent to ONLY the Democrats in the House."