United States Department of Transportation
i
Gasoline taxes : an examination of news media discourse related to gas tax funding in six states.
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2010-05-01
[PDF-670.08 KB]
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Abstract:Why is it that some state legislatures approved gasoline tax increases while others did not?
In this analysis we examine gasoline tax issue frames in the print news media to see if these
frames provide clues to the eventual policy outcomes.
We examined the media discourse between 2006 and 2009 around proposed gasoline tax
hikes in six states: Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Idaho and Oregon.
In three of these states, Minnesota in 2008 and Vermont and Oregon in 2009, state
legislatures increased the gas tax. In Massachusetts and Idaho, gubernatorial-proposed UVM TRC Report # 10-005
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increases were rejected by legislators. And in New Hampshire, the state senate rejected a
house-approved measure to increase the gas tax.
Clearly, there are many possible explanations for the success and failure of gasoline tax
increases at the state level. In each state, the details of the policy debate, the relationships
between political parties and policy actors and the overall context differs. In this analysis we
focus exclusively on how the issue has been framed in the news media as a window into the
discourse surrounding the policy debate.
We start with a brief overview of the debate in each of the states.
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