I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3432 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow long-distance rural 

commuters a deduction during periods when the local price of gasoline 

exceeds $3 per gallon. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 30, 2009 

Mr. SPACE (for himself and Mr. PAUL) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow longdistance rural commuters a deduction during periods 

when the local price of gasoline exceeds $3 per gallon. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural Commuters Re5 lief Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress hereby finds: 

8 (1) In 2009, the price of gasoline has risen to 

9 record levels in many areas of the United States. 


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1 (2) Rising gas prices present significant chal2 lenges to commuters dependent on cars or other 

3 automobiles for transportation to and from their 

4 places of employment. 

5 (3) Residents of rural areas are particularly af6 fected by increasing gasoline prices given their lim7 ited access to public transportation and longer dis8 tances between homes and places of employment. 

9 (4) The health of economies in many rural 

10 areas is particularly susceptible to harm from the in11 creasing price of gasoline. 

12 (5) The documented incidence of poverty is 

13 higher outside of metropolitan areas than within 

14 such areas. 

15 SEC. 3. DEDUCTION FOR LONG-DISTANCE RURAL COM16 MUTERS DURING PERIODS OF HIGH GASO17 LINE PRICES. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part VI of subchapter B of chap19 ter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to 

20 additional itemized deductions for individuals) is amended 

21 by redesignating section 224 as section 225 and by insert22 ing after section 223 the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 224. HIGH GASOLINE EXPENSES FOR LONG-DISTANCE 

2 RURAL COMMUTERS. 

3 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF DEDUCTION.—In the case of an 

4 eligible individual, there shall be allowed as a deduction 

5 the sum of the amounts determined under subsection (b) 

6 for each high gasoline price month during the taxable 

7 year. 

8 ‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF DEDUCTION.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The amount determined 

10 under this subsection for each high gasoline price 

11 month shall be an amount equal to— 

12 ‘‘(A) so many of the miles driven by the in13 dividual for each trip during such month be14 tween the individual’s principal place of abode 

15 and primary place of employment as exceeds 30 

16 miles, multiplied by 

17 ‘‘(B) the standard rate of mileage for use 

18 of an automobile for purposes of section 162(a) 

19 (as in effect for such month). 

20 ‘‘(2) INCREASED DEDUCTION FOR CAR POOL21 ING.—For any month, in the case of an eligible indi22 vidual who car pools an average of 4 trips per week 

23 during the 3-month period ending with such month, 

24 the standard rate of mileage under paragraph (1)(B) 

25 shall be increased by $0.30 with respect to each trip 

26 during which the individual car pools. 


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1 ‘‘(3) CAR POOL.—For purposes of this sub2 section, an individual car pools on any trip if at least 

3 one other individual is in the highway motor vehicle 

4 during substantially all of the trip in connection with 

5 the employment of such other individual. 

6 ‘‘(c) MONTHLY LIMITATION.—The amount deter7 mined under subsection (b) with respect to an individual 

8 for any month shall not exceed $100. 

9 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—For purposes of this 

10 section— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible indi12 vidual’ means, with respect to any month, any indi13 vidual if— 

14 ‘‘(A) throughout such month, the distance 

15 between the individual’s principal place of abode 

16 and primary place of employment is more than 

17 30 miles, 

18 ‘‘(B) on at least 4 days during each week 

19 of such month, such individual commutes be20 tween such place of abode and place of employ21 ment using a highway motor vehicle— 

22 ‘‘(i) which is fueled by gasoline or die23 sel fuel, and 

24 ‘‘(ii) which is registered to such indi25 vidual or to another individual as part of 


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1 a car pooling arrangement between such 

2 individuals, 

3 ‘‘(C) both such places are in rural areas, 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(D) the family income of the family which 

6 includes the taxpayer does not exceed the me7 dian family income for the United States. 

8 ‘‘(2) RURAL AREA.—The term ‘rural area’ 

9 means any nonmetropolitan area (as determined by 

10 the Office of Management and Budget for census 

11 purposes) with a population of not more than 

12 30,000. 

13 ‘‘(e) HIGH GASOLINE PRICE MONTH.—For purposes 

14 of this section— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘high gasoline 

16 price month’ means any calendar month during 

17 which the average weekly retail price of regular 

18 grade gasoline (inclusive of taxes) for applicable 

19 PAD District is at least $3 per gallon. 

20 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE PAD DISTRICT.—For pur21 poses of paragraph (1), the applicable PAD district 

22 is the Petroleum Administration for Defense District 

23 which includes most of the distance between the in24 dividual’s principal place of abode and primary place 

25 of employment. 


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1 ‘‘(f) SEPARATE APPLICATION TO INDIVIDUALS FIL2 ING JOINT RETURNS.—This section shall be applied sepa3 rately to individuals filing a joint return.’’. 

4 (b) DEDUCTION ALLOWED WHETHER OR NOT INDI5 VIDUAL ITEMIZES OTHER DEDUCTIONS.—Subsection (a) 

6 of section 62 of such Code is amended by inserting after 

7 paragraph (21) the following new paragraph: 

8 ‘‘(22) HIGH GASOLINE EXPENSES FOR LONG9 DISTANCE RURAL COMMUTERS.—The deduction al10 lowed by section 224.’’. 

11 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

12 for part VI of subchapter B of chapter 1 of such Code 

13 is amended by striking the item relating to section 224 

14 and inserting the following new items: 

‘‘Sec. 224. High gasoline expenses for long-distance rural commuters. 

‘‘Sec. 225. Cross reference.’’. 

15 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

16 this section shall apply to calendar months beginning after 

17 the date of the enactment of this Act and to taxable years 

18 ending after such date. 

Æ 


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