TIME FOR STATE TO GIVE US TAX RELIEF AT GAS PUMP.

Byline: James Bemis Commentary

Save 3 cents on a gallon of gas here and 3 cents a gallon there, and pretty soon you've saved $400 million per year.

At least that's what Assemblyman Tony Strickland figures. ``Every time a California driver pulls the trigger on the gas pump, the first 36 cents for every gallon go to the government as excise taxes,'' said the Thousand Oaks Republican. ``What the motorist doesn't realize is that the same 36 cents of gas is then double taxed by the state sales tax.

``This means that we pay the state twice before we pay for even one penny of gas,'' Strickland said. ``And I think it should stop.''

Strickland recently introduced Assembly Bill 1315, which would eliminate this double taxing of gasoline. Under the measure, the 7.75 percent state sales tax would be applied only to the base price of gasoline. Therefore, consumers would pay 3 cents less per gallon or an average of 45 cents less for each tankful.

With approximately 14 billion gallons of gas sold each year in California, AB 1315 would save the state's motorists an estimated $400 million annually.

Around April 15, we read lots of stories about taxpayers who ``cheat'' the government by fudging on their taxes. But we rarely hear about how the government ``cheats'' the taxpayers with unseen assessments or hidden tax schemes.

As Strickland points out, imposing a tax on a tax is just a scheme and eliminating it is simply a matter of fairness. Who could possibly oppose removing such an unfair levy?

Well, lots of folks, apparently. AB 1315 was defeated in the Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee without the support of a single Democrat. Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa, D-Los Angeles, explained his opposition to the bill by saying, ``We need to start investing in California.''

Start investing? One wonders what the state's huge budget has been used for all these years.

Perhaps a little history is helpful here. In 1991, California taxpayers were greeted by incoming Gov. Pete Wilson with $8.2 billion in tax and fee increases, the largest ever imposed by any state. While some levies have expired, many taxes from the package - including a gas tax increase - still unpleasantly linger, like the foul smell of pungent cheese.

State revenues are gushing in this year, resulting in a $5 billion surplus. If ever there was a time to lower taxes, this is it. Given that government's eyes are always bigger than its wallet, though, it's not surprising that reducing the tax burden is difficult even when Sacramento is awash in cash.

But taxes aren't just a financial matter; they're a moral issue, too.

People's earnings are their own property, just like their home. Keeping what doesn't belong to you is considered stealing when done by a thief but ``investing'' when done by the state.

Furthermore, for an overtaxed populace like ours, every decrease in taxes represents an increase in liberty. The less the state takes, the more we've got to spend on our families, homes and businesses. That's real investment in the future, even if some politicians in Sacramento don't consider it so.

Strickland's proposal would provide some welcome relief at a time when gas prices have skyrocketed. More importantly, though, it would be a small but well-deserved victory for our state's most overburdened yet least represented special interest group - the taxpayer.

Despite the setback, Tony Strickland is not giving up. He hopes to make ending double taxes on fuel part of an overall tax cut offered in the Republican budget plan or take up the measure again later this year. But even if never enacted, AB 1315 has already served one important purpose: California voters now know which politicians are really on the taxpayers' side and which only pretend to be.