Utah lawmakers want to lower gas prices for their state’s residents — but Idaho residents may pay for the change at their own gas stations.

In a proposal that has yet to be formally introduced in the Utah Legislature, lawmakers have pitched a plan to charge states that receive exported Utah gas the same tax that Utah residents pay at the pump, the Utah News Dispatch reported.

That would be bad news for Idaho, which imports about 70,000 barrels of fuel each day from Utah. That’s about 75% of the fuel that Utah refines and exports, according to a House Joint Memorial Idaho lawmakers proposed Jan. 29.

Rep. Mike Moyle, Idaho’s speaker of the House, has called the move unconstitutional and threatened retaliation if it moves forward.

“Shifting one state’s transportation funding obligations onto residents of a neighboring state undermines the trust, cooperation, and goodwill that have long defined the Idaho-Utah relationship,” says the joint memorial, which Moyle, R-Star, co-sponsored. Such a tax will “certainly trigger compensatory measures by affected states.”

The specifics of Utah’s plans, including the size of the proposed tax, have shifted in recent days amid talks between Utah and Idaho legislative leaders, Moyle told the Idaho Statesman on Tuesday. But the core of the plan — levying a fuel tax on states, like Idaho, that import Utah gas — has remained the same.

“They want us to talk and cut a deal,” Moyle said. “But there’s no deal to cut if it raises Idaho fuel costs. I’m not cutting a deal to raise Idaho’s fuel costs. There’s no way.”

Utah Rep. Calvin Roberts, who is expected to sponsor the legislation, and House Speaker Mike Schultz defended the proposal in recent reporting. The Republican lawmakers did not respond to email inquiries from the Statesman.

Responding on Schultz’s behalf, Alexa Musselman, a spokesperson for the Utah House of Representatives, told the Statesman that the bill would become public Wednesday or Thursday. She did not answer questions about the proposal.

Idaho’s joint memorial — which has been on ice in recent days as lawmakers wait for Utah lawmakers to formally introduce a bill — is mostly symbolic. Memorials are not binding, but rather are meant to send a message from the Legislature.

The memorial cites the interstate commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits states from imposing taxes on imports or exports without Congress’s consent. For that reason, “the Utah proposal raises serious constitutional concerns,” the memorial reads.

The memorial “lets them know we’re not happy,” Moyle said. “It’s a shot across the bow.”

But if a plan to raise taxes on Idaho moves forward, Moyle said the state will be looking for ways to “recoup” those costs. He’s exploring bringing in fuel from other states, including Oregon, Wyoming or Montana, by rail or truck. He’s even been in touch with Canadians about “possibly accessing more of their resources,” he said.

But any specifics, he said, would have to wait until he sees Utah’s newest proposal in the coming days.

“We’re exploring all of these options,” he said. “But until the bill’s done, it’s hard to say what will happen.”

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(Reporter Rose Evans contributed.)

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