State Senator Moore Votes Against Repealing Automatic Gas Tax Hike

State Senator Moore Votes Against Repealing Automatic Gas Tax Hike

State Senate Richard T. Moore votes against FY 15 Budget Amendment #24

BOSTON – Representative Ryan Fattman (R-Webster) expressed sincere disappointment in Senator Richard T. Moore’s (D-Uxbridge) vote not to repeal the automatic gas tax hike making it more expensive for Massachusetts drivers to commute to work for years to come.

The vote came Wednesday when Senator Moore voted against FY 15 Budget Amendment #24, filed by Senator Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester), which would repeal the automatic gas tax hike vote from last year in the Legislature.

“Senator Moore’s vote ignores the desires of those he represents in the Senate,” said Representative Fattman, who is challenging Moore for the Worcester-Norfolk State Senate Seat. “His vote for higher taxes on gas while collecting a taxpayer funded reimbursement to drive to work demonstrates his inability to empathize with those who pay their own way to drive to work daily and unwillingness to challenge the Beacon Hill’s business as usual despite his position of power.”   

The automatic gas tax hike was passed last year in a $500 million tax increase package by Democratic leadership, which was also supported by Senator Moore.

Fattman, who voted against the original $500 million tax increase, pledge when he was first elected in 2010 to not raise taxes on the hard working people of Massachusetts. He also pledged to never accept taxpayer funds to drive to work, a political perk offered to Massachusetts’s lawmakers.

“This demonstrates yet another difference between Senator Moore’s voting record and mine,” said Fattman. “I believe in the Founder’s principle of ‘No taxation without Representation,’ and he believes in unaccountable taxation tied to inflation. He collects thousands of dollars in taxpayer funded travel reimbursements, and I pledged to pay my own way.”

###