TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

I believe that all states contemplating any gas tax increase must consider all the cost increases that would be generated. Such as shipping,gas fuel delivery,home heating services,mail,air travel,all service parts and most important grocery price increases. The states should inform the public that it is not necessary to preheat your vehicle prior to driving. Your vehicle will warm up in five to ten minutes faster at a normal speed. The senior citizens who are on a very strict budget will be effected the most, we do not get automatic increase on our retirement, as many of the politicians do. The public is sick and tired for being taken advantage of by the politicians who's salary is paid for by the citizen that elect them in the first place. Thank you, Bill

The one thing Maine does NOT need is another tax and higher gas prices. We are a pretty low income state with a lot of rural areas. People have to drive father to get anywhere for work shopping. Cannot afford higher gas prices gas and Diesel should be going down not up !! this will be a perfect way to keep businesses out of Maine and kill a tourist industry. Way to go Give. Mills keep destroying our State

As a coastal resident, this issue is of great concern to me. I appreciate the fact that Governor Mills appears to share my concern.
It is very important that future policies and initiatives are based on scientific evidence related to emissions that affect climate change.
I would like to see initiatives that provide incentives for types of transportation that will reduce our collective carbon footprint.
Strong action is needed to meet critical climate goals.

you are a one term, Lapage for governor. you have proved to Maine that liberalism is dressed up dictatorship

As currently proposed, TCI would result in a potentially significant effective tax on highway gasoline and diesel. This would increase costs for manufacturers, retailers, dairy, forestry, mineral, and other businesses dependent on highway transportation for moving supplies and goods, as well as construction and other contractors dependent on vehicles, both through direct costs and the cost of transportation service providers.

Unlike residential drivers, who might respond to higher costs by adjusting driving habits and potentially converting to more efficient vehicles, and for whom states could fund programs supporting such changes with revenues allocated from TCI, the commercial transportation noted above is already driven to be as efficient as possible in terms of both logistical planning and transportation technology owing to regulatory requirements and the high costs of transportation generally, compounded by the competitive pressures businesses already face.

Without meaningful options to reduce exposure to the effective tax impact of TCI through behavioral or technology changes, or options for states to fund programs supporting such changes with revenues allocated from TCI, this cost impact could only be mitigated by moving production or operations out of the impacted region, or businesses would be left facing the consequences of trying to absorb or pass on costs to consumers.

TCI would therefore appear to promise little if any change in commercial transportation carbon emissions unless produced by reduced business operations, with resulting loss of employment and economic activity. This would be both fundamentally inequitable and highly cost ineffective.

The most efficient way to address the concerns outlined above while proceeding with TCI would be to exclude diesel from the program and focus on highway gasoline and related transportation issues and opportunities. This would protect the overwhelming majority of commercial transportation, and states could still work to assist businesses with smaller, gasoline fueled vehicle options.

Nevertheless, even focusing on highway gasoline could still lead to other economic and social consequences, particularly in rural areas. These potential consequences should be fully explored, explained, and opened to public review and comment before states take formal steps forward on the TCI proposal.