By Mark Scott
Buffalo, NY – Republicans in the State Assembly aren't giving up on their effort to pass a gasoline sales tax cap for amounts over two dollars a gallon.
The Assemby's Democratic majority rejected such a cap earlier this month. Wednesday, Republican lawmakers not only called for another vote on the cap, they also want to create a fund that would pay for research into alternative fuel sources.
Hamburg Republican Jack Quinn says capping the sales tax would save the average motorist ten cents per gallon.
"Something that most people don't understand is that this is a tax on a tax," Quinn said. "Not only are we paying a federal tax and an excise tax, we in New York pay a tax on top of the gasoline and those federal taxes. We're actually getting taxed twice.
"I know a few cents is not going to be a lot. But when add it up, what we want to do is give the money back to the people who deserve it."
Quinn says New Yorkers are 65-cents per gallon in taxes -- the highest rate in the Northeast.