The proposed law would eliminate the requirement that the state's gas tax, which was 24 cents per gallon as of September 2013, be adjusted every year by the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index over the preceding year but never fall below 21.5 centers per gallon.

A yes vote would eliminate the requirement that the state gas tax be adjusted annually based on the Consumer Price Index.

A no vote would make no change in the laws regarding the gas tax.

YES: By state Rep. Geoff Diehl

Last year, the legislature linked the gas tax to inflation, which means gas taxes will automatically increase every year without a vote. That's taxation without representation.

Yes on 1 stops the linkage to inflation so the Legislature will have to vote if they want to increase our taxes. No tax should automatically increase.

Our ballot initiative doesn't cut one dime of gas tax revenues or funding for road repair. It just requires the Legislature to vote to increase our taxes.

You already pay hefty gas taxes -– 26.5 cents for state taxes and 18.4 cents for federal. An average fill-up costs $6.73 in taxes. For what we pay, our streets should be paved in gold. New Hampshire maintains their roads for four times less than Massachusetts and it doesn't have sales or income taxes.

Within the past year, the administration has reinstituted tolls, raised Registry fees by 20 percent and raised other taxes. They increased taxes despite the state having a $1.2 billion budget surplus.

On top of that, the state has wasted more than $2 billion and counting of tax dollars. According to Pioneer Institute, just the MBTA maintenance department wastes $250 million. See our website, stopautomatictaxhikes.com, for an entire list of waste.

Remember, the last time the gas tax was increased, the money was diverted from road repair. Worse yet, the legislators who instituted these automatic gas tax hikes don't pay them. They get a special perk of being paid to drive to work.

If Yes on 1 doesn't win, the Legislature will link other taxes to inflation such as income and property taxes. Legislative pay is already linked to inflation.

Require the legislature to vote to raise taxes and make our state government act fiscally responsible; vote yes to repeal automatic tax hikes.

For information, visit stopautomatictaxncreases.com.

NO: Dan O'Connell, president and CEO of Massachusetts Competitive Partnership.

Massachusetts has some of the worst roads and bridges in the country. More than half of our bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete -– raising a serious public safety threat. And our crumbling roadways are a significant factor in one-third of all traffic fatalities in Massachusetts. Motor vehicle crashes alone cost Massachusetts residents $6.3 billion a year in medical and other costs.

Making our transportation system safe to travel should be our top priority. But Question 1 on this year's statewide ballot would eliminate nearly $1 billion the state has earmarked for roads and bridges over the next decade.

Consider this; when your children take the bus to school, or your spouse leaves for work, there is a significant chance they will commute on a road whose condition is poor. Today, one out of five of the state's major roadways are listed in poor condition. And the problem is not strictly limited to our roads. The Federal Highway Administration ranks the conditions of our bridges nearly dead-last in the nation, behind only Rhode Island.

Perhaps most disturbing -- the 10 busiest structurally deficient bridges carry more than 1 million cars every day. After decades of neglect, the poor condition of our roads and bridges has snowballed into nothing short of a true public safety crisis.

Everyone cares about public safety, but few people think about the role well-maintained roads and bridges play. Support our effort to keeping Massachusetts safe and structurally sound by voting no on Question 1 on Nov. 4.



