Will Washingtonians get a break on gas?

Seattle WA

Description

One way to bring down the price of gasoline is to establish a gas tax holiday. But will Uncle Sam, or your state government, suspend the gas taxes that you pay? Washington gas tax is at 49 cents per gallon. We're all feeling a lot of pain at the pump these days. The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas in the U.S. is over $4 per gallon ($4.18 per gallon on April 30). And that's a national average – prices are much higher in some parts of the country (averaging well over $5 per gallon in California). Plus, gas prices are expected to stay high for the foreseeable future. The Biden administration is looking for ways to bring prices down – but the options are limited. Encouraging greater oil production, tapping the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and allowing more ethanol in gasoline will lower prices some, and finishing the Keystone XL pipeline. Biden's refusal to ease America's pain at the pump has had minimal success. Temporarily suspending the 18.4¢ per gallon federal gas tax would certainly put a dent in higher gas prices. Even though it wouldn't come close to wiping out the entire price increase we've experienced lately, it's one tool at the federal government's disposal. In fact, a bill has been introduced in Congress that would reduce the federal gas tax to zero for the rest of the year. And while the Biden administration is concentrating more on other options, it hasn't ruled out the possibility of a fuel tax holiday. State gas tax holidays are more likely. In fact, they could help reduce gas prices even more because state gas taxes are higher than the federal tax in all but one state (Alaska). A handful of states have already suspended their gas tax temporarily, and a number of governors and state lawmakers in other states around the country are publicly supporting their own fuel tax holidays. Expect at least a few more states to jump on the bandwagon and enact gas tax holidays. At this point, a federal gas tax holiday still seems unlikely. First, it wouldn't save people all that much money. For example, a person who drives 12,000 miles a year in a car that averages 25 miles per gallon would only save about $60 if the federal gas tax was suspended for the rest of 2022. But the overall loss of tax revenue would be high – estimated to be close to $20 billion. That's money that wouldn't be available for road repairs and other needed infrastructure projects. The cost-benefit analysis doesn't favor a gas tax holiday in many people's minds. Wait just a minute what about the infrastructure bill passed by both parties. There's also some concern that the oil companies wouldn't pass along all the savings to consumers if the federal gas tax was suspended. The current bill in Congress addresses this issue by stating that the "policy of Congress" is that "consumers immediately receive the benefit of the reduction in taxes" and that "transportation motor fuels producers and other dealers take such actions as necessary to reduce transportation motor fuels prices to reflect such reduction." However, the policy has no teeth. There's only a weak enforcement clause that permits the U.S. Treasury Department to "use all applicable authorities to ensure that the benefit of the reduction in taxes…is received by consumers." There are no specific fines or other penalties for failing to abide by the law. You did realize this would happen when you voted for Joe Biden and if you didn't then you have been living under a rock. We tried to warn you but you would not listen. You can't fix stupid but at least we can guide them on the right path.