Several states have taken steps to temporarily roll back their gasoline taxes, a move the Biden administration is considering backing on the federal level as the cost of fuel has surged past $4 a gallon.
Lawmakers in Maryland are scheduled to hold a hearing Tuesday on a bill that would suspend the state’s approximately 37 cents-per-gallon gas tax for 30 days and has the support of Governor Larry Hogan. The suspension could take effect as soon as Thursday if the bill is fast tracked.
Georgia’s House of Representatives has passed a similar measure with the support of Governor Brian Kemp. It awaits action in the state Senate. Florida imposed a one-month suspension that takes effect in October, after the tourist season.
But the federal effort still faces skepticism from both parties in Congress, where it would need to be approved.
“The problem is oil companies and gas stations rarely pass that through to customers,” Representative Jared Huffman, a California Democrat said in an interview Sunday. “What I don’t want to do is line the pockets of folks who are already raking in record profits. I would need to be assured it would be passed through to the consumer.”
Policy makers in California are discussing some sort of rebate program to get around that problem to make sure any savings are passed on to the customer, Huffman said.
The average price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline in the U.S. was $4.32 on Sunday, according to the auto club AAA. U.S. drivers current pay an average of 57 cents per gallon in federal and state taxes, according to the American Petroleum Institute.
Legislation introduced last month by Georgia Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock would suspend the 18.4 cent federal gas tax until January 1, 2023. The legislation is co-sponsored by Democratic Senators Mark Kelly, Maggie Hassan, Debbie Stabenow, Catherine Cortez Masto and Jackie Rosen.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the president will continue to consider a range of steps to address gasoline prices the administration expects to keep rising.
“Obviously, what we’re trying to do is mitigate the impact,” she said.