GAS TAX INCREASE SPECIFICS STILL UP IN THE AIR

I have a bunch of things that I would love to talk about this week, but I can’t because I am so embroiled in the gas tax antics occurring at the Statehouse.
 
One of the things that I planned to discuss was some of the success we are having in eliminating Stage 2 vapor recovery, and I want to report the details of a meeting that I attended last week which will hopefully speed up the process.  I’ll try to share the details with you next week!
 
Now, the urgent matter on the table is not the increase in the gas tax.  Rather, it is HOW the gas tax will be increased and will the proposal benefit small business owners?  Also critical is WHEN will the increase go into effect?  Let me be clear, this isn’t a matter of IF the gas tax is increased -- I have been telling you for more than two years that it is inevitable -- but I never believed that they would go right up to the deadline of Midnight, June 30^th, 2016.  The TTF is effectively broke (actually it is $18 billion in debt) as of midnight tonight.  The State Treasurer has indicated that there is actually enough cash to continue road projects into early August, but that’s not much of a consolation.
 
As I am writing this, Senate Democrats and Republicans are both in their respective caucuses to decide if they’ll support the Assembly version of the tax increase that was passed in the middle of the night on Monday, and is supported by Governor Christie. Let me be clear: we adamantly oppose the current version of the gas tax that was passed in the Assembly on Monday night.  I have done multiple interviews over the past couple of days, and reporters are starting to ask me, “With the price of gas increasing 23-cents per gallon, what can be done to give drivers some relief at the pump?”  For drivers, and gas station owners, who want to save money, the answer is simple … self-serve anybody?  Click HERE to watch my interview with News 12 New Jersey last night. 
 
Let me also be clear about this: throughout this entire process, no matter how much the tax is increased, or when it is increased, our #1 priority was to be certain that the tax is NOT increased by adding sales tax to gasoline!  That is our #1 priority, and so far the Legislature has kept their end of the bargain, and sales tax seems to be off the table for this particular minute. However, I am worried that sales tax could be back on the table at a moment’s notice.
 
I am sending this week’s Road Warrior early today just to keep you alerted and informed. I will send a Wildfire Alert later today IF the Governor signs a tax increase, and I will alert you if you need to change your price at midnight.  
 
Since the legislature has waited until the very last possible minute to do this, I’ve been working for the past 24 hours insisting that any tax increase NOT go into effect until next Thursday (July 7^th).  This will give ample time for those of you away for the holiday weekend to be back in time to change your prices. Although I believe my efforts will be successful, I don’t know exactly how everything will shake out.  
 
I’ve tried to keep this short because I am on my way to the Statehouse.  You must stay tuned!

Thanks for reading -- See you all next week!

Sal Risalvato
Executive Director

6/29/2016:
Pennsylvania Weighs Tobacco Tax
The Pennsylvania House Appropriations Committee has approved a $31.5 billion state budget that raises taxes on cigarettes from $1.60 per pack to $2.60 per pack. According to the Federal Tax Administration, the $1 increase would take Pennsylvania from the 23rd highest tobacco tax in the country to the 10th. "We're paying $7 per pack now for cigarettes and the money is supposed to go toward roads and schools and stuff like that," a Pennsylvania resident told WNEP News 16. “It doesn't go there. I don't know where it goes, but we'll be up to $8 a pack, which would be kind of crazy.” The proposed budget also would increase the tax on smokeless tobacco products, but not on cigars. The full House is expected to vote on the package this week. Though Senate Republicans and Gov. Tom Wolf (D) have not agreed to the budget, the House Appropriations Committee approval marks an important step in avoiding last year’s nine-month budget impasse between Wolf and the Republican House and Senate.
 
06/28/2016:
Will Sheetz Be the Tipping Point for EVs?
The c-store industry has shown middling interest in electric vehicles (EVs), with a handful of chains installing charging stations. But with the mass-market Tesla Model 3 poised to ship in 2017, at least one chain is positioning itself for a potentially big ramp up. As reported in a CSP Daily News Flash, Sheetz Inc., Altoona, Pa., is in talks with Tesla to install the EV manufacturer’s Supercharger stations at some of its sites, according to The Washington Post. “We’ve had discussions with them about putting their chargers in our stores,” Michael Lorenz, executive vice president of petroleum supply, told the newspaper. “We haven’t done anything yet, but we’re continuing those discussions.” Lorenz would not comment on how many of Sheetz’s more than 500 sites in six states would host the chargers. The chain is no stranger to EV charging. It installed DC Fast Chargers at five sites in Pennsylvania in 2014 to develop a charging corridor between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh. The network has since expanded to eight sites in Pennsylvania and North Carolina. Sheetz joins other c-store chains such as Royal Farms, Ricker’s and Spinx that also have installed chargers.
 
 
6/28/2016:
Shocking Results in California’s C-Store Tobacco-Ban Vote
A bill that would have banned the sale of tobacco in convenience stores, grocery stores and drug stores failed to get a vote during an Assembly Business and Professions Committee hearing this Tuesday in CA. Retailers and distributors associations and more than 200 convenience-store owners showed up at the hearing to voice their opposition to the widely contested Senate Bill 1400. Proposed by Democratic Sen. Bob Wieckowski, SB 1400 would have limited the sale of tobacco and vapor products to adults-only retailers that generate 60% of annual revenue from tobacco sales. The measure narrowly passed in the Senate, with the minimum 21 votes earlier this month. Since then, convenience and tobacco retailers have expressed concerns at how the ban would damage their business. Analysis presented to the committee suggested more than 30,000 retailers would lose the ability to sell tobacco, leaving just 2,200 existing tobacco stores to sell tobacco in California (and an estimated 7,000 new locations that could open if the law went into effect).