Poll: Voters are split on raising the gas tax

Voters are split on whether the federal gas tax should be increased to pay for infrastructure improvements, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday.

Forty-six percent of respondents said that raising the tax would is a good idea, while 44 percent said it’s a bad idea. The 2-percentage point difference falls within the survey’s 3.4-percentage-point margin of error.

The survey comes after President Trump backed an increase in the gas tax during a meeting with lawmakers last week on infrastructure proposals.

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The tax hasn’t been raised since the 1990s, and an increase has been endorsed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. But some conservative groups have blasted the idea.

Voters’ level of support for increasing the gas tax was similar across the political spectrum, with 48 percent of Republicans, 49 percent of Democrats and 46 percent of independents saying that such a move would be a good idea. 

But attitudes about a gas-tax hike varied by race. White voters were more likely to say that a gas-tax increase is a good idea than a bad idea, but the opposite was true for black and Hispanic voters.

Support for a gas-tax increase is down compared to May of last year. Back then, 51 percent of voters said an increase would be a good idea, while 41 percent said it would be a bad idea.

The Quinnipiac poll was conducted from Feb. 16-19 and surveyed 1,249 voters.