Governor Ivey’s Red Diesel Move is a Masterstroke

This is the kind of thing the Governor is supposed to do.

See a problem — fix the problem. Help the people — done.

Last Thursday, Gov. Ivey did exactly that. With a stroke of her pen, MeeMaw ordered ALEA to just chill out for 120 days, and not look too closely at the color of the diesel in Alabama tanks.

Why does this matter? Because diesel intended for off-road use — tractors, logging equipment, farm trucks — is dyed red. Red diesel is exempt from highway taxes, which comes to 31 cents per gallon right now, just in Alabama taxes.

With diesel now over $6 a gallon (and likely headed for the stratosphere over the next few weeks), that 31 cents is a significant relief for Alabama farmers and loggers.

And, because of the way Ivey worded her order to ALEA, well…if some of our non-farm truckers just happen to have some pinkish diesel in their tanks?

Oh, well. Nothing to see here. Move along. ALEA’s focusing on “commercial motor vehicle (CMV) inspections that present a threat to public safety rather than conducting CMV inspections to identify the use of dyed diesel fuel in CMVs.”

Having ALEA look the other way potentially gives at least some of our non-farm truckers a break, indirectly, at the start of the October shipping season. Just don’t tell anyone that, please. It needs to stay our little secret.

October isn’t just when harvest season starts on our farms. It’s when the pre-holiday shipping rush begins, on top of the usual trucking activity. Stores typically start getting their big holiday orders delivered in October — and that’s almost exclusively delivered by trucks burning…wait for it…DIESEL.

That’s on top of the regular shipments of basically everything we buy every day, which is also delivered by trucks burning diesel.

Ivey didn’t change any laws. She didn’t “suspend” anything. What she did, as Governor, was order a State agency to focus on what’s important for the next 120 days, and not ask silly questions about the color of the diesel fuel that’s keeping this State moving.

Because, if the prognosticators are correct, she didn’t do it a moment too soon. I’m still working up that piece, so stay tuned — and change your oil this week, and don’t let your tank get below half-full. Just sayin’.

There is still one big unresolved question, and it’s buried in one sentence at the end of Ivey’s letter:

“By copy of this letter, I also direct the Commissioner of the Department of Revenue to request dyed diesel fuel penalty relief from the Internal Revenue Service."

That’s the zillion dollar question: how will the IRS respond? Will they see reason, and forego the 24.4 cents per gallon federal tax, as well as the $1,000 or $10 per gallon penalty (whichever is greater) if you’re caught using red diesel in the “wrong” vehicle?

Even if they only decided to drop the penalty, that would be a tremendous help. But, no lie, that extra 24.4 cents per gallon would be an even bigger help.

As of this writing, we don’t know, and may not know for several days or more what the IRS will decide to do.

So what happens if some enterprising Alabama truckers manage to get some “farm” diesel to keep the trucks rolling and the grocery stores stocked…and the IRS comes down on them?

Historically, Alabamians haven’t responded well to nosy Revenuers. Not too many decades ago, one oft-discussed remedy was a dose of 00-buck, administered via shotgun. I’m certainly not recommending that or anything like it, but with the mood the country is in right now, over fuel prices? Who can say what might happen?

The polite and sensible thing for the IRS to do would be to graciously accede to the Governor’s wishes and follow ALEA’s lead. Don’t ask silly questions about the color of the diesel, and don’t make a fuss over the loss of a few dollars of tax revenue for the next four months. 

Will the IRS see it that way? Maybe, maybe not…but they might be more likely to see things that way if members of Alabama’s Congressional Delegation were to contact the IRS Commissioner and Secretary of the Treasury about it.

HINT, HINT!

Governor Ivey — our MeeMaw, bless her! — has acted decisively to make a bad situation better for Alabamians. Kudos to her for that!

Now, let’s hope the Revenuers decide to go along with her — because Alabama’s farmers, ranchers, loggers and enterprising truckers need that nearly 55 cents per gallon relief!

And the rest of us need them to have it.

Dr. Bill Chitwood is the Managing Editor of ALPolitics.com. He is the author, under his nom de guerre Doc Contrarian, of Beyond MAGA: From Trump campaign slogan to political movement to restoring the Republic. He identifies as Conservatarian Contrarian and a staunch Constitutional Originalist. He enjoys being called a First Amendment Nazi — mainly because he is.

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