In her new proposed budget, Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue generally agrees with transportation proposals aired by House Republicans last week to put a cap on the state gas tax and to postpone new and increased ferry tolls for a year.

Ferries:  Perdue angered legislators in February when she refused to start collecting new tolls on two toll-free ferry routes, and higher rates on three tolled routes, as ordered in the state budget last year.  She cited economic hardship in ferry-dependent coastal communities.  Republicans sharply criticized Perdue but shied away from fighting her on this.  Both budget drafts, theirs and now hers, would put off the new tolls until July 2013.

But there's a difference here: What to do about the additional $2.5 million in toll collections that had been expected in the budget? ... [MORE]

Big news rolling out today (Tuesday) in the House Transportations Appropriations Subcommittee. [5/2/2012 update: see full story online.]

House leaders have released draft legislation (attached below) to:

Cap the gas tax at 37.5 cents, roughly the rate to which it is expected to fall in July based on the legislative formula that floats the tax with changes in wholesale fuel prices. Legislators could not agree last year on a proposal, passed by the House and ignored by the Senate, to cap the tax at its 2011 rate of 35 cents. So it rose in January to its current 38.9 cents.

Postpone new ferry tolls until July 2013.  That's even longer than the one-year moratorium announced by Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue in February, and denounced by Republican leaders in both chambers.  House Republicans are sympathetic to the calls from coastal communities to delay the tax, but Senate Republicans have not yet agreed to this.

Eliminate required safety and emissions inspections for new cars, and cars from the three most recent model years.  Legislators and Perdue said they were open to the idea after a series of stories in The News & Observer and Charlotte Observer raised questions about whether the inspections are reliable, effective and necessary.

The legislation is expected to be considered when the General Assembly convenes May 16.

Documents:

The Road Worrier today (see column with lots of comments) reports that Americans paid more on average for gas in 2011 than ever before, and that prices are climbing sharply.

And asks the rhetorical question: Where's the outrage?

I put it that way because I have interviewed lots of motorists about gas prices ever since gas prices became an issue – since well before March 15, 2005, when the Triangle average price for regular clicked above $2 for the first time.  There was plenty of shock and dismay then, and again when the price passed $3 on Sept. 3, 2005 (and again, since you ask, when we hit $4 on June 17, 2008).  Lately, though, folks seem more resigned to high gas prices.

Sure enough, lots of readers responded to express outrage. ... [MORE]

Next week we'll see the price of gasoline climb as the state adds 3.9 cents to the tax on each gallon and the federal government removes a 4.5 cent tax break on the ethanol blended into each gallon of gas. (See today's story with plenty of reader comments.)

But gas prices aren't waiting for the New Year. They're rising this week.

Tom Kloza, an oil analyst who blogs for the Oil Price Information Service, tells me we may have seen prices bottom out during the week before Christmas.  Most Americans avoided having to pay as much as $4 a gallon this year, but Kloza reckons we could break that unhappy barrier before next summer. 

In email yesterday Kloza said:

January could be a little fitful but I suspect that prices will rally between Presidents’ Day and Cinco de Mayo.  A typical rally would push prices well above $4 gal, and even a half-hearted rally gets us nearly to that point.

The average Triangle price for self-service regular hit its peak for 2011 in mid-May, at $3.872 a gallon.  It has dropped in recent months and fell below $3.23 last week.  Since then the price has climbed a bit, to $3.258 today.  Several Raleigh stations were pricing regular as low as $3.17 this afternoon.

Pump prices are falling, but North Carolina's gas tax will rise by 3.9 cents on January 1 to an all-time high of 38.9 cents a gallon, the N.C. Department of Revenue said.

Only four states have higher gas taxes. Fortunately, if recent price trends continue, drivers can expect the North Carolina tax rate to fall again next July.

The Republican-controlled General Assembly cut other taxes and curbed state spending this year. But legislators also increased state spending for roads and bridges -- and they could not agree on whether to limit the state gas tax, which pays for more than half the total transportation budget.

The House voted overwhelmingly in November to cap the tax at its current level, 35 cents. But the Senate adjourned without taking up the bill, so the law allowing a tax increase Jan. 1 was left unchanged. ... [MORE]

A possible cap on the state gas tax is among the agenda items for this week's drive-by session of the General Assembly. This could be a tough decision.

If the Republicans who control the legislature agree to stop the tax from rising higher in January (in keeping with their lower-tax leanings), they will effectively cut this year's budget for road and bridge repair (one of their few higher-spending priorities).

[11/29/11 update: House caps it, Senate ignores it. See today's story.]

North Carolina's motor fuels tax rose in July to its current record-high 35 cents per gallon -- leaving only eight states with a higher gas tax, according to the American Petroleum Institute. The tax rate is set by a formula that will change the tax on Jan. 1 based on average wholesale fuel prices from April through September.

Gas prices have fallen recently, but they were higher during that six-month period. So if the legislature does nothing, the tax will rise in January to 38.9 or 39 cents ... [MORE].

Crude oil prices have fallen 30 percent since May, the Associated Press says, to around $82 a barrel as of yesterday.

Retail gasoline prices haven't plummeted yet. But they've started to fall a bit.

Meanwhile, it's pretty clear that North Carolina wholesalers and retailers have finally started passing along to consumers the full burden of the 2.5-cent gas tax increase that took effect July 1. ... [MORE]

We’re paying more for gas in North Carolina because of a big tax increase that took effect July 1. Or are we?

The change added 2.5 cents to the tax on each gallon of gas and diesel fuel. That’s 25 cents more for a 10-gallon fill-up.

But when you look around the country and in nearby states where taxes stayed the same, you might think North Carolina’s gas tax went down – not up. Prices elsewhere have risen faster than ours, and North Carolina’s gas tax hike feels strangely painless.

So far. ... [MORE]

If you plan to drive somewhere this weekend, you might want to buy your gas Thursday.

Triangle gas prices have fallen 40 cents in the past six weeks, and that’s one reason why the AAA Carolinas motor club predicts a busy holiday travel weekend.

But those lower prices will surely click a few pennies higher before the weekend actually arrives – thanks to a tax hike scheduled to hit the pumps Friday.

North Carolina’s per-gallon tax on gas and diesel fuel will rise from an all-time high 32.5 cents through Thursday to an all-time even-higher 35 cents starting Friday, the first day of July. ... [MORE]

If you have a learner’s permit now and you aim to get your provisional license this fall, you’d better plan to spend a lot of your summer driving around with Mom or Dad in the front seat.

Meanwhile, drivers old and young should get ready for a 2.5-cent tax increase, starting July 1, on every gallon of gas and diesel fuel.

Record-high gas taxes and tougher rules for the graduated driver’s license program are the biggest changes that North Carolina drivers will see as a result of action – and inaction – in the Republican-led General Assembly session that adjourned last week. [6/21/11 update: See today's Road Worrier column with reader comments.]

For now ... [MORE]