PA Gov. Wolf, Other Governors Push For Fed. Gas Tax Holiday

HARRISBURG, PA — As gas prices continue to soar in Pennsylvania and across the nation, Gov. Tom Wolf and four fellow governors are urging congressional leaders to suspend the federal gas tax until the end of the year.

The move came Tuesday, shortly after President Joe Biden announced a plan to ban Russian oil imports to the United States as Russia continue to pummel its neighboring nation, Ukraine, in an unprovoked war. The maneuver is expected to send gas prices already at record highs surging even higher.

In a letter to House and Senate leaders, the governors urged passage of a bills introduced last month in the House and Senate that would halt collection of the gas tax, which currently stands at 18.4 cents a gallon.

“At a time when people are directly impacted by rising prices on everyday goods, a federal gas tax holiday is a tool in the toolbox to reduce costs for Americans,” the governors wrote. “We support federal legislation to address rising gas prices by suspending the federal gas tax until the end of the year.”

Joining Wolf in the gas tax holiday effort are governors Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Jared Polis
of Colorado, Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico and Tony Evers of Wisconsin. The letter was sent to House majority and minority leaders Nancy Pelosi, respectively, and Senate majority and minority leaders Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell, respectively.

Wolf has made no mention of suspending the state tax on gasoline, currently the highest in the nation at 58 cents per gallon. That's double the average state gas tax of 28 cents per gallon, according to the World Population Review website.

As of Wednesday morning, the average price per gallon nationally was $4.25, according to AAA. In Pennsylvania, the average was $4.39. In and around Philadelphia, the average was $4.45, while the average in Pittsburgh was $4.32.

See the entire gas tax holiday letter here.

Be the first to know what's happening in your community and region. With a free Patch subscription, you'll always be up to date on local and state news: https://patch.com/subscribe.