Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle has long been a foe of conservatives in Georgia. Today, he is going to demonstrate why yet again.

In his post earlier today, Erick alluded to the fact that Speaker David Ralston just pushed a transportation tax increase through the Georgia House of Representatives. HB 170, as the bill is known, is now moving on to the Georgia Senate, where Cagle is making it a priority to raise Georgians’ taxes to the tune of $1 billion.

HB 170 can look a little confusing on the surface. Larry Stanford of the Thomaston Times breaks down the important parts well:

Currently, Georgia charges a four percent sales tax on gasoline, with three percent going to the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT). Georgia also charges a 7.5 cents per gallon excise tax on gas. What the House version of HB 170 does is eliminate the 4 percent sales tax on gas, but raises the excise tax to 29.2 cents per gallon. It also removes the tax break airlines were getting on their fuel costs, removes the $5,000 tax credit that owners of alternative fuel vehicles were receiving, and charges those same owners $200 a year to own and operate those alternative fuel vehicles. The purpose of the changes is to generate about $1 billion a year for GDOT to use in building and maintaining state roads.

It will also raise driver’s license fees and the rental car tax.

According to sources under the Gold Dome, Cagle nixed any attempt at making it revenue neutral, and he stopped Senate Republicans from holding a caucus meeting on the bill. He wants to ram the bill through as soon as possible, and he will be trying to do so at a Transportation Committee meeting at 3pm today.

Casey Cagle’s underhanded attempt to raise Georgians’ taxes must be stopped. Here is the list of members of the Georgia Senate’s Transportation Committee. I know this is short notice, but we must make sure they know Georgians do not want HB 170 passed.

And while I’m at it, Casey Cagle’s almost certainly got his eye set on the Governor’s Mansion in 2018. We cannot let him ascend to that office, and HB 170 is only one of many reasons for this.

Featured image courtesy of Shutterstock.