[b] Expiring gas tax may be next battle on the Hill


With the debt debate paralyzing Congress, the expiring gas tax has been off the radar.

CloseBy BYRON TAU & BEN SMITH
8/1/11 11:40 PM EDT

In normal times, renewing the federal excise tax on gasoline would be another routine vote in Congress.

But as the past month of rancorous and intensely partisan debate about raising the debt ceiling has shown, the times are anything but normal.

And with most of the 18.4-cent tax per gallon of gasoline set to expire Sept. 30, renewing the tax could be the next political controversy to spark a brawl in an ever more deeply divided Capitol Hill.

Congress has already come to the brink of a government shutdown and is only now wrapping up an eleventh-hour compromise to save the country from a first-ever default. A legislative dispute has even temporarily shuttered the Federal Aviation Administration. With the level of partisan vitriol and anti-spending sentiment at an all-time high, some advocates are worried that the nation’s highway fund will be the next victim — while some conservatives sense an opportunity.

“The White House is going to make a move to renew it. We’ll see — but there will be Republicans who will be resistant to that.â€