President Joe Biden's nominee for Secretary of Commerce said during her confirmation hearing on Tuesday that she would be open to raising the gas tax in order to support the president's agenda on climate change.
Gina Raimondo, who currently serves as the Democratic Governor of Rhode Island, was responding to a question from Republican Senator Rick Scott, who referenced a similar question he posed to Transportation Secretary nominee Pete Buttigieg.
"The nominee for Transportation Secretary, Mayor Buttigieg, said last week that he was receptive to increasing the gas tax, and again this would be something that would impact the poorest families in our country significantly. What is your position on that and how would that impact your ability to do your job as Secretary of Commerce?" Scott asked.
"I would defer to Congress to make that decision. Let me say this, I, as Governor, am deeply in touch with how much increasing bills affect the average American family. Having said that, we do need to meet the climate change challenge and we need funds for improved infrastructure. Better roads, safer roads, safer bridges, and which also creates jobs," Raimondo replied.
Scott had previously asked Buttigieg whether he would support increasing the gas tax, to which Buttigieg replied that "all options need to be on the table."
"As you know, the gas tax has not been increased since 1993 and it has never been pegged to inflation," Buttigieg said. "That's one of the reasons why the current state of the highway trust fund is that there's more going out than coming in."
Buttigieg acknowledged, however, that such taxes as a means of increasing revenue would prove futile in the long run as electric cars become more popular.
Biden campaigned on promises of climate change action, with the new administration now tackling methods of combatting climate change. Republicans have criticized their plans, however, noting that the resulting rises in cost of living would disproportionately impact lower income families.
Biden has already implemented a number of policies designed to combat climate change, including the controversial cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline which costed thousands of union jobs in both the United States and Canada.
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