http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000620/ts/energy_gasoline_dc_2.html

Tuesday June 20 5:57 PM ET

INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) - Declaring an energy emergency in his state, Indiana Gov. Frank O'Bannon on Tuesday suspended the state's sales tax on gasoline for 60 days.

The governor said the move would help residents cope with surging gasoline prices by shaving up to 10 cents off each gallon of premium-grade gasoline at an estimated cost of $11 million.

``Some Hoosier motorists are paying $2 or more per gallon. That's 56 cents more per gallon than gas stations in Georgia are charging and 48 cents more than stations in Virginia are charging,'' O'Bannon said in a statement. ``Hoosiers can't afford to wait on federal and state investigators to tell us why the Midwest is being hit so hard.''

The governor also warned that if gasoline price cuts are not seen soon, he will ask the state attorney general to investigate price gouging by petroleum companies.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday it will submit an initial report to Congress in three to five weeks on whether oil companies are gouging Midwest drivers.

Drivers in Midwest cities such as Chicago and Milwaukee are paying prices as much as 50 cents higher a gallon than the national average. The oil industry, meanwhile, has said the disproportionately high pump prices in the Midwest are due to pipeline disruptions and new anti-smog regulations imposed this spring by the Environmental Protection Agency.

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-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), June 20, 2000

Answers

Those of us lucky enough to live in the San Francisco Bay area have been paying near or over $2 a gallon for gas since February. Prices have just now been coming down to $1.75 for regular. Our governor didn't think it was a big enough deal to drop the gas tax, I guess. BTW, we pay 8.5% sales tax on top of the normal state and federal taxes. My tears for the poor Hoosiers are a little slow in getting to flow :^)

-- Jim Cooke (JJCooke@yahoo.com), June 21, 2000.

Those "poor Hoosiers" grow a goodly amount of wheat, corn, and soy. I'd like to see gas prices drop significantly in the Midwest farming communities before it's time to apply the next cycle of chemicals.

-- (kb8um8@yahoo.com), June 21, 2000.

KB:

Good point but I'd also like to remind you that California produces somewhere between 20 and 25% of all the food products grown in the US. I didn't see a lot of concern expressed about the poor Calofornia farmers that have been paying high gas prices for months.

-- Jim Cooke (JJCooke@yahoo.com), June 22, 2000.