DiZoglio, O'Connor Ives Defend Their Gas Tax Votes

You probably noticed that gas is a little more expensive since Tuesday. And if you smoke, you notice a spike in the cost of cigarettes.

That's because effective Wednesday, the Massachusetts gas tax has increased by 3 cents a gallon and the cigarette tax has increased a dollar a pack.

"There's no end to the money the Democrats think they need," State Rep. Jim Lyons said. "There is $1.4 billion in new revenues between the amount of money left over in the 2012 budget and the consensus revenue in 2014 budget."

"The Democrats voted to increase the gas tax every year into infinity and beyond. It's indexed, so every year it will go up," Lyons added.

State Rep. Diana DiZoglio and State Sen. Kathleen O'Connor Ives -- both of whom represent North Andover -- voted against the tax increases when the legislature first voted on the Democratic transportation bill that included those things. But after the governor vetoed the bill, both DiZoglio and O'Connor Ives voted to override that veto, effectively putting the new tax increases into law.

Now, in the face of backlash over their switch, the two legislators are defending their vote, saying it was meant to prevent even steeper tax increases.

"I fought against increasing the gas tax throughout the transportation finance debate and voted against the transportation finance bill because it increased the gas tax," O'Connor Ives said. "Unfortunately, that bill passed. The Governor vetoed it to try and get an even higher gas tax increase. Overriding the Governor's veto was the next step in fighting a gas tax increase. If his veto had succeeded, it would have empowered the Administration to push through a new bill with an even higher gas tax increase."

The governor would, of course, need a vote from the legislature in order to push through another tax increase.

DiZoglio echoed O'Connor Ives' sentiments and logic.

"I voted not once, but twice against the tax hikes that the House approved because I know they will unfairly impact the border communities I represent and will place an additional burden on working people and their families," DiZoglio said. "Unfortunately, the governor publicly stated that he vetoed the tax hikes because he wanted a bill that would raise taxes even more. I voted to override the governor’s veto to prevent the legislature and the governor from having an opportunity to raise taxes even higher."

Indeed, Gov. Patrick did request a higher gas tax increase -- about 3 to 4 cents per gallon -- to fund transportation projects after the legislature voted down extending tolls on Route 90, according to The Republican.

But that has people opposed to any gas tax increase asking, why not just vote against the tax increases now and then fight the governor again if he insisted on a bigger tax increase?

"Today, people who are working hard to pay their bills and employers who are trying to keep their businesses afloat in a stagnant economy are being hit with hundreds of millions of dollars in new taxes, taxes that could have and should have been avoided," State Sen. Bruce Tarr said in a statement Wednesday as the tax increases took effect. "These sweeping new taxes represent the outcome of a choice the Legislature didn’t have to make, and now Massachusetts consumers and businesses are going to be forced to live with the consequences of that choice for years to come."

But North Andover's Democratic legislators say that their vote was to stop higher tax increases in the future.

"Partisans trying to score political points have suggested that tax hikes would not have passed if the governor’s veto been sustained," DiZoglio added. "But the truth is the legislature had already overwhelmingly approved the tax hikes and would not have suddenly caved and changed their minds. The governor would not have vetoed the legislation looking for even higher taxes if he thought there was a chance he would instead get no tax hikes at all."

Not so fast, says Lyons.

"A vote sustaining the governor's veto would have killed the tax, and there would have been no tax increase" Lyons said, adding that a larger tax increase would have been unlikely. "The Speaker was totally against raising more taxes than $500 million. it's pure and simple."

The gas and cigarette tax increases are expected to impact the Merrimack Valley businesses especially, since consumers can simply drive a few miles to New Hampshire to purchase those items.

"It's what they call a stimulus package for Southern New Hampshire," Lyons said. "It's a shot in the arm for the economy of New Hampshire at expense of the commonwealth, particularly the Merrimack Valley."