LAS VEGAS – Nevada State Treasurer candidate Drew Johnson today released a new policy report outlining a plan to eventually eliminate Nevada’s 23-cent-per-gallon state gas tax by saving and investing a portion of future state budget surpluses and tax revenue from new lithium and critical-mineral development.

If elected Treasurer, Johnson said he will propose legislation to the Nevada Legislature to establish the Nevada Permanent Fund within the Treasurer’s Office and axe the state’s unpopular and outdated gas tax.

State gas-tax revenue would be replaced with investment earnings, allowing Nevada to eliminate the tax without reducing state or local road funding.

The plan does not create a new tax, increase Nevada’s existing mining-tax rate, or cut funding from any existing programs or services.

“Nevadans are already paying too much just to get to work, take their kids to school, and live their lives,” Johnson said. “Our state has a chance to start building toward a future where drivers no longer pay the state’s unfair and regressive gas tax—and we can do it without asking Nevadans to pay a dime more in taxes.”

Johnson’s proposal would fund the Permanent Fund from two sources: 50 percent of qualifying state budget surpluses in strong years, after required reserves and Rainy Day Fund transfers, and the eligible state share of taxes generated by new lithium and critical-mineral projects after existing local-government, education, and debt obligations are protected.

“Nevada has seen mining booms and busts for more than a century,” Johnson said. “This time, instead of spending every dollar while the boom lasts, we should save part of it, invest it, and create something that keeps benefiting Nevadans long after the minerals are gone.”

The fund would need roughly $5.4 billion in invested assets plus a two-year, $540 million reserve fund before the full gas tax could disappear. Under the report’s estimates, those financial tests could be reached in roughly 10-12 years, although the proposal sets no guaranteed repeal date.

The full 23-cent gas-tax package currently generates about $270 million a year for state and local roads. Under Johnson’s plan, that funding would be replaced before the tax is eliminated, and existing highway-bond obligations would also be protected.

“The minerals will eventually run out,” said Johnson. “The benefits they create for Nevada don’t have to.”

Read the full report, “A New Road for Nevada: Using Surpluses and Critical Minerals to Replace the Gas Tax,” at DrewforNevada.com.

###

Drew Johnson is a fiscal policy expert, government watchdog, and the Republican nominee for Nevada State Treasurer. For more information about Drew Johnson’s campaign for Nevada State Treasurer, visit DrewForNevada.com.