ILLINOIS COULD SEND MESSAGE BY DROPPING TAX ON GAS

With gasoline prices in Illinois above the $2 mark in some places and approaching that amount elsewhere, lawmakers could find no better time than present to eliminate the state's 5 percent sales tax on gasoline.

The Illinois House Republican Caucus said it will introduce legislation this month to eliminate the gas sales tax, which generates about $280 million a year in state revenue. Republicans believe the measure will pass because gas prices are climbing. If it passes, the tax would be eliminated Jan. 1.

Illinois actually has a 6.25 percent sales tax on gas. The state gets 5 percent, and local governments get the other 1.25 percent. Republicans don't plan to eliminate the portion that goes to local governments, and local governments could still levy an additional local sales tax.

The fact that Illinois has a sales tax on gasoline may come as a surprise to a lot of people. Sales tax, for instance, doesn't apply to gasoline sales in Missouri and a lot of other states. Illinois' sales tax is in addition to its state fuel tax, which is levied before the sales tax.

Illinois' high gas prices are second only to those in Hawaii. Illinois' high gas prices are blamed on a combination of state and federal taxes, and on the fact that the Chicago and East St. Louis areas are required to use cleaner-burning but more expensive reformulated gas. But a whopping 40 percent of the cost of a gallon of gas in Illinois goes toward taxes that include an 18.4 percent federal tax on a gallon of gas and a 19.3 percent state tax per gallon. The state tax is among the highest in the nation.

Even at $2 per gallon, gasoline in the United States is much cheaper than in any country in the world, and Americans are fortunate for that fact. But with prices climbing, U.S. motorists are feeling the pinch of the higher gasoline prices.

The Illinois Legislature has an opportunity to ease the pain for motorists by at least eliminating the sales tax. The $280 million a year it raises is only a drop in the bucket to Illinois government, but it would mean significant savings to Illinois residents.

Eliminating the tax would show taxpayers that lawmakers are looking out for their them when so many governments are imposing new taxes, many of which aren't even needed.