—The Dally Collegian Tuesday, March 12,1996
Gov.
Ridge proposes
gasoline-tax
Gov. Ridge’s 6.5-cent-a
-gallon gas-tax increase is
expected to face
resistance in the House.
By PETER DURANTINE
Associated Press Writer
HARRISBURG After months
of publicly rejecting an increase in
the state’s gasoline tax while quiet
ly probing for legislative support,
Gov. Tom Ridge proposed a 6.5-
cent-a-gallon hike yesterday.
He said severe winter weather
had pushed Pennsylvania “over the
edge” and there is no way to solve
the state’s highway and bridge
repair and construction problems
without the increase.
The governor made the remarks
in opening a special legislative ses
sion to deal with the effects of the
winter storms.
The average motorist, who dri
ves roughly 11,000 miles a year,
will pay an estimated $33.40 more
annually, said Transportation Sec
retary Bradley Mallory, who had
pushed hard for more funds.
The increase would make Penn
sylvania’s gas tax the third highest,
behind Connecticut’s 33 cents a
gallon and Rhode Island’s 29 cents.
Mallory could not say how many
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increase
more miles of highways will be
built or maintained with the extra
money, but said the money was
crucial to making substantial
progress against the storm damage
and the backlog of maintenance
and new construction state drivers
are demanding.
The state maintains 44,309 miles
of road, more than the combined
state systems operated by New
York, New Jersey and the New
England states.
The Pennsylvania network is the
nation’s fourth largest.
The tax increase, which likely
will face a tough time in the House,
would raise an additional $358 mil
lion a year. Local government
would get $2B million and the Penn
sylvania Turnpike will get $9 mil
lion, which will be used to borrow
to help complete two sections of
the Mon-Fayette Expressway in
Pittsburgh, Mallory said.
Ridge said Mallory had built a
sound case for the increase, which
he agreed to support within the last
week.
“There is really only one thing to
do,” Ridge told reporters after he
outlined his plan to a joint session
of the Legislature.
“We’ve stretched these dollars
every way conceivable. We looked
at every possible scenario and
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Gov. Tom Ridge
proposed gas-tax increase
exhausted every means. There is
no way we can get from point A to
point B without this increase,” the
Republican governor said.
Although Ridge has the votes in
the Senate for the increase, he
faces a tough sell in the House. Sit
ting on just a one-vote majority in
the 203-member House, Republi
cans so far do not have the votes.
While House Republican leader
John Perzel of Philadelphia would
vote for the increase, he will not
bring the bill to a vote unless he is
sure it will pass, said Steve Drach
ler, Perzel’s spokesman.
Rep. Dwight Evans of Philadel
phia opposes a gas-tax hike. He
said that Ridge should have put
more money into roads last year.
Dateline
U.S. to intervene in Taiwan
By JIM ABRAMS
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON, D.C. Secretary of State Warren
Christopher accused China of “reckless” provocations
against Taiwan on Sunday and said U.S. warships
would move closer to Taiwan in the coming days.
Christopher said the United States wanted the battle
group led by the aircraft carrier Independence,
already in the region as part of the Seventh Fleet, to
move closer fo Taiwan and noted that the carrier
Nimitz and its battle group recently sailed through the
strait separating Taiwan from China.
“I will say that carrier task forces have gone
through that strait before,” Christopher said in
response to a television interviewer. “We’re con
cerned to make sure that those forces, that carrier
battle group, are in a position to be helpful if they
need to be. They’ll be moved somewhat closer to Tai
wan in future days.”
U.N. inspectors allowed into Iraqi base
By LOUIS MEIXLER
Associated Press Writer
UNITED NATIONS After a
12-hour stand off, Iraqi soldiers
allowed U.N. weapons monitors
yesterday into a training base used
by Saddam Hussein’s elite guard.
It was the second confrontation
in a week between U.N. weapons
inspectors and Iraq.
After a flurry of diplomatic con
tacts and meetings, James Moore,
director of operations for the U.N.
monitors, said inspectors had been
permitted into the compound but
he did not elaborate.
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While it was not clear from the sequence of ques
tions whether Christopher was referring explicitly to
both the Independence and Nimitz being moved closer
to Taiwan or only the Independence The Wash
ington Post reported that the administration would
announce yesterday that the Nimitz will arrive back
in the region in about two weeks from its recent duty
in the Persian Gulf theater.
Hours after Christopher’s remarks, the Chinese for
eign minister warned the United States not to inter
vene in its sovereignty dispute with the island.
“Taiwan is a part of China and not a protectorate of
the United States,” Qian Qichen said in a news confer
ence.
China has sought to influence Taiwan’s presidential
election scheduled for later this month and discourage
the pro-democracy movement on the island by staging
missile tests off Taiwan’s coast and announcing plans
for live ammunition tests in the straits that divide Tai
wan from the mainland.
It was unclear whether this area is a few miles south of Salman
meant the Iraqis had agreed to Pak, which was Iraq’s main biologi
allow a full inspection of the site. cal weapons center.
The stand off began at 11 a.m. (3 U.N. inspectors surrounded the
a.m. EST) when the Iraqis blocked site and used helicopters to moni-
U.N. monitors from inspecting a tor the area during the stand off,
compound used by Iraq’s Republi- Moore said.
can Guard. Last Friday, Iraqi officials
The inspectors are authorized to allowed U.N. inspectors to enter a
monitor the dismantling of Iraqi Ministry of Irrigation building in
programs for chemical and biologi- Baghdad after an 18-hour impasse,
cal weapons and long-range mis- “This is certainly a worrying pic
ture,” British Ambassador John
Moore would not say why the
inspectors wished to inspect the
compound in Sarabadi, about 35
miles southeast of Baghdad. The
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