Bill: HB 991, 84(R) - 2015

Committee

House Business & Industry

Vote Recommendation

Vote Recommendation Economic Freedom Property Rights Personal Responsibility Limited Government Individual Liberty
Yes Neutral Neutral Neutral Positive Neutral

Author(s)

Dwayne Bohac

Co-Author(s)

Giovanni Capriglione

Bill Caption

Relating to requiring notice of federal and state tax rates for motor fuel sold at retail; providing a civil penalty.

Fiscal Notes

TDA indicates it would be required to design and contract printing for 200,000 fuel tax stickers to meet the requirement to display stickers on each face of a motor fuel pump. TDA estimates that 160,000 stickers will be mailed to licensed locations in the first year and the remaining 40,000 stickers would be used in years 2, 3 and 4 for new licenses issued. This cost is estimated to be $126,000 for all stickers in years 1, 2, 3 and 4. This estimate is based upon costs associated with printing Consumer Information Stickers that are currently required to be displayed on each face of a motor fuel pump. It is further anticipated that the stickers will need to be replaced in five (5) years as a result of environmental degradation. Postage and shipping supplies required to ship the stickers to each fuel station is estimated to cost $30,000. In 5 years, TDA will again incur these shipping costs to replace the stickers due to environmental degradation. TDA anticipates the need to hire 2 temporary employees at the rate of $11.50 per hour to sort and ship stickers to all fuel stations in the state. The total cost for temporary employees is anticipated to be $4,000 in years 1 and 5. Total 5 year fiscal impact is estimated to be $320,000. 

Bill Analysis

HB 991 seeks to make the Department of Agriculture to publish the a notice on the current rates of the federal and state motor fuel taxes on each pump in a clear and conspicuous manner. 

The civil penalties in the filed version have since been removed.

Vote Recommendation Notes

5/25 Update:

This bill is substantively the same as when we reported on it in its original chamber. We continue to support HB 991. The Senate sponsor is Sen. Huffines. 

First chamber recommendation below:

HB 991 would require the Department of Agriculture to display the state and federal motor fuel tax rates on each gas pump. The costs associated with this are minuscule and not overly burdensome compared to the transparency benefits consumers will see. The real question to this legislation is whether consumers will call for lower tax rates on motor fuels when they constantly see how much the state and federal government is making off of them. 


Source URL (retrieved on 03/28/2024 01:03 PM): http://reports.texasaction.com/bill/84r/hb991?print_view=true