The week the Senate Committee on Finance voted out HB 4571, HB 4572, and HB 4677. These bill would exempt aviation fuel from sales tax and change the tax paid on aviation fuel to a tax paid on the wholesale price. As a result more money is put into the state aeronautics fund, a tax break is provided to large consumer of aviation fuel, particularly Delta Airlines, and $7 million in constitutionally protected revenue that goes to our local communities is eliminated and back-filled with General Fund revenue.

While it is important that these bills replaced the revenue lost from the sales tax exemption, the League testified in opposition to these bills because they erode the guaranteed funding we are provided under the constitution and subjected those funds to an annual appropriation.

The League supports changing the language to the House passed version because they did not impact local revenues and we will be advocating to restore that language.

John LaMacchia is a Legislative Associate for the League handling transportation and infrastructure issues. He can be reached at jlamacchia@mml.org or 517-908-0303.