CHARLESTON, W.Va. – With gas prices on the rise due to the war in Iran and lawmakers calling for a holiday on the state gas tax, the leader of the Contractors Association of West Virginia says legislators cannot sacrifice infrastructure for a political win.
Contractors Association CEO Jason Pizatella published an op-ed this week explaining his belief that West Virginians would suffer long-term effects in exchange for short-term relief.
“All of our road initiatives, whether it’s roads, bridges, slips, slides, road plowing, things of that nature, grass cutting, canopy clearing–all of that–is paid for by the road fund and without the motor fuel excise tax, or the gas tax for short, we don’t have a road fund,” he said Tuesday on MetroNews Talkline
West Virginia House Democrats and the West Virginia House Freedom Caucus, made up of Republicans, separately stood up to advocate for a moratorium on the tax in recent weeks as the average price of gas in the state climbed toward $4 per gallon. As of January 1, 2025, the state gas tax averages nearly 36 cents per gallon.
Pizatella believes the trade-off would not be significant enough to outweigh the negative impact on roads projects.
“West Virginia already has one of the lowest gas taxes around us, Kentucky being the only one that’s lower. The state of West Virginia maintains more miles of roadway than any other state per capita in the United States,” he said.
As of April 9, the West Virginia Department of Transportation reported 299 active roads projects with an additional 529 planned projects. According to Pizatella, taking money out of those plans would result in employement problems in addition to any effect on infrastructure.
“It supports investments in our state’s infrastructure that we need, and the construction workers that I represent are the ones that are out there doing the work, but it also keeps the state Division of Highways and their workers employed so they can continue to do what the voters of West Virginia asked them to do,” he said.
Pizatella does not support suggestions that funds could be pulled from other areas of the state government, such as the West Virginia Rainy Day Fund, to cover gaps in the road fund. He thinks the state has been correct to limit the Rainy Day Fund’s use in the past and want it to stay that way.
“The administration and the legislature have made it very clear over the years that using the Rainy Day Fund for purposes outside of a rainy day is risky and is problematic,” he said.
AAA reported an average gas price per gallon of $3.932 on Wednesday.