When Republicans campaigned for legislative seats last fall, party leaders promised to “make our tax rates competitive with other states.” They cut sales and other taxes in the General Assembly this year.

But they balked at proposals by some legislators to block a scheduled gas tax increase in July. A statutory formula makes part of the tax rate rise and fall with changes in wholesale fuel prices. Because of the price hikes we saw in early spring, our tax rate will rise from 32.5 to 35 cents per gallon.

Only 12 states have higher gas tax rates than ours now, according to the American Petroleum Institute. If other states are unchanged, we’ll be even less competitive. Starting July 1, only eight states will have gas taxes higher than North Carolina’s.

Driving logs

New rules for teen drivers will not become law until Gov. Bev Perdue finds Senate Bill 636 in a stack of papers waiting in her “In” basket and gives it her signature.

But for youngsters who want to get their licenses as soon as possible, it’s a good idea not to wait for Perdue to sign the law and the state Division of Motor Vehicles to implement it. Because the clock is ticking.

Unchanged in the law is the first step for young drivers ages 15 to 17: Take a driver’s education class and get your learner’s permit. This gives you strictly controlled privileges to drive with the front-seat supervision of a qualified adult, usually a parent or guardian.

But the old law doesn’t actually require you to spend time behind the wheel, getting valuable practice under parental guidance. You could just park the car and wait until you’re 16, and you’ve had your permit for a year – without bothering to learn much about driving.

The new law changes that. Before you can trade in your learner’s permit for the relaxed restrictions of a provisional license, you’ll have

Article source: http://feeds.stateline.org/~r/StatelineorgRss-Transportation/~3/ccrmo70h294/get-ready-for-new-laws.html