The act was introduced by Sen. Spencer Abraham (R-Mich.), who was joined by Sens. Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.), Rod Grams (R-Minn.), and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.). Of those four, only Fitzgerald is not up for re-election this November.

"American motorists are paying a high price for failed energy policies," Hutchison said in a slam against the Clinton-Gore administration, in introducing a similar bill in June. "We need to break this cycle of energy dependence by getting our domestic oil and gas production back on-line."

The act was offered as an amendment to the Estate/Death Tax legislation passed by the Senate that day, and was defeated on a point of order, 40 to 59.

The act would have suspended the entire 18.4-cent per gallon gasoline tax, and the 24.4-cent diesel fuel tax for 150 days, that is,  just beyond the election.

The roadbuilding community again mobilized as it did in April. Lobbying groups such as the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), the Associated General Contractors (AGC) and the American Highway Users Alliance (AHUA) worked hard inside the Beltway while encouraging stakeholders to contact their senators.

Like the April skirmishes, the vote was moderately bipartisan, with 15 Republicans joining 44 Democrats in voting against the amendment, including leading Republican Sens. George Voinovich (Ohio), Kit Bond (Mo.), Chuck Hagel (Neb.), John Warner (Va.) and Pete Domenici (N.M.)

"This tax is more acceptable to the public than any other tax," said Warner, like Voinovich and Bond, a member of the Senate Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee. "They see their dollar go directly from the gas pump to the project and employment in the state."

But in this election year, it ain't over yet. ARTBA president Pete Ruane warned that gas tax repeal could resurface as an amendment to other "must-pass" legislation, such as an omnibus appropriations bill.

On Tuesday, April 11, the U.S. Senate voted 56 to 43 to block consideration of S. 2285, the federal gas tax repeal bill sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.), reported the American Road & Transportation Builders Association and the Associated General Contractors.

The vote was bipartisan,  with 12 Republicans and 44 Democrats voting against moving foward on the bill.

And on Thursday, April 6, the Senate passed a nonbinding resolution opposing a 4.3-cent gas tax roll back by a near-two-to-one margin, 66-34.

The "Sense of the Senate" amendment to the Senate's FY 2001 budget resolution reinforced the House's earlier reluctance to cutting the gas tax. Voting against cutting the tax were 44 Democrats and 22 Republicans; voting for cutting the tax were one Democrat and 33 Republicans.

Lott's bill would have repealed 4.3 from April 15 through Dec. 31, and repeal the entire 18.4 cent federal tax if the price of gasoline should rise above $2 a gallon.