Senate Increases Fuel Tax to 5c;
Mouse Votes to Repeal Law Creating
Legislative and Examining Group
By JIM HUTCHESON
JUNEAU, U*)—The Senate Fri
day passed a bill increasing the
fuel tax by highway users from
three to five cents a gallon and
the House voted overwhelmingly
to repeal a law creating a legisla
tive and examining committee at
the 1953 Republican legislature.
The fuels tax bill was approved
13 to 3. It now goes back to the
House for action on amendments
but none of them change the basic
tax rate proposals. The bill would
increase the aviation gasoline tax
by one cent a gallon and leave
unchanged the present two cent
* tax on boat fuel.
Passage of those bills were
highlights of a long day’s legisla
tive grind. The House never even
adjourned for the dinner hour
but continued straight into the
evening with the three-hour iob
of reading the amended Employ
ment Security Bill. It is required
it be read in full and a corporal’s
guard of House members stood
by in relays to make it legal.
The Senate came back for a
night session at which the same
routine was followed.
The evening session was used
for the reading of a long list of
bills whi’e most of the senators
worked in committees.
Agreement on Delegaies
The afternoon action on numer
ous bills came after the highlight
of the morning had been the
agreement of both houses on a
compromise for the method of
elec ing delegates to the statehood
constitutional convention. The bill
then was sent to the governor.
The amended bill sailed thru
both houses with only a single
vote against it, by Rep. McLean.
The Senate passed the House
bill to create an Alaska Bar Assn,
with powers to discipline attor
neys for unprofessional conduct,
subject to court review.
The bill will now go to the
governor.
Fuels Tax Amendments
The motor fuels tax bill had a
long ride in the Senate as numer
ous amendments were offered be
fore it finally was approved.
A proposal to add another cent
to the present two cent tax on
fuel for boats provoked the long
ride in the Senate as numerous
amendments were offered before
it finally was approved.
A, proposal to add another cent
to the present two cent tax on
fuel for boats provoked the long
est debate. It was offered by Sen.
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Main arguments against adding
to the tax for fishermen were by
the southeast Alaska senators.
Butrovich, the Finance Com
mittee chairman who returned to
his seat after a week’s severe ill
ness, estimated the bill would
raise about six million dollars for
the biennium as it stands.
Fishermen Hard Hit
The southeastern senators ar
gued that the fishermen already
are hard hit by diminished salmon
runs and are working on a critic
ally small margin. They contend
ed the main purpose of the tax
increase is to get money for high
ways.
Sen. William Egan tried an
amendment to cut the increase
for highway users to two cents a
gallon but it lost on a 12-4 vote.
He described truck and car costs
as already far higher in Alaska
than in the States.
Sen. Frank Barr offered an
amendment to increase the avia
tion gasoline only by half a cent,
instead of a cent, because he said,
“bush pilots, too, have a sick in
dustry.” His motion failed on a
12-4 vote.
Demos Lambaste GOP Bill
The repeal of the act which
created tne Legislative Investi
gating Committee brought a run
ning series of Democratic denun
ciations of the Republican-created
commi tec.
Speaker Wendell Kay declared
the law “should be knocked off
| the books forever.” He contended
the 1953 act gave the committee
far too much power.
Rep. Harry Palmer contended
whole families had been harmed
by the committee’s activities.
Rep. Seaborn Buckalew Jr. sug
gested that instead of turning the
committee records to the Legis
lative Council, “we should amend
the bill to burn them. We can’t
destroy the harm it has done but
we can destroy the records.”
Which to Burn?
To which McLean, Republican
minority floor leader, suggested it
would be a better idea to burn
the Democrats’ repeal bill. He
contended “the House is throwing
itself open to a charge of “smell
ing something and wanting to
cover up.”
In attacking the law, Rep. Tom
Stewart hit particularly at the
provisions which authorized it to
suggest removal of persons in
the executive branch and “to
cause civil and criminal actions
to be instituted.” He said it was
a gross invasion of the executive
branch.
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Senate Battle
Over Tax Cut
Appears Close
WASHINGTON, l^—The out
come of the Senate battle over an
income tax cut appeared so close
Saturday that both Democratic
and Republican leaders took steps
to guard against absentees.
With the showdown vote set for
next Tuesday or Wednesday, the
word went out to all Senators to
cancel any engagements which
might take them away from
Washington for those days.
The New York Times in a dis
patch from Washington by Wil
liam S. White, said President Eis
enhower “was determined to veto
any Democratic income tax-cut
ting legislation.r
The Times said “high Republi
can quarters” indicated the Presi
dent was “resolved not to accept
such a reduction even if he had
to choose between that and allow
ing the corporation and excise
I rates to fall.”
If the Democrats should bring
off an income tax cut, the Times
said, the President’s course would
be as follows:
He would veto that reduction
^embodied in a bill to extend cor
poration and excise taxes) and
would then send to Congress a
message demanding immediate
legislation to extend the excise
and corporate levies unchanged.
Sen. Byrd <D-Va> and Republi
can Senate leaders continued to
express confidence they had the
votes to turn back any tax cut
plan by a slim margin.
But Democratic leaders still
were trying to build up steam for
their proposal to give a 908 mil
lion dollar annual income tax re
duction to lower-income families.
The mile was established for
distance measurement in Roman
times, says the National Geo
graphic Society, and the term
comes from the Latin “mille
passum” or 1,000 paces.
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