With Election Pressure Mounting, More States Suspend Fuel Taxes

With Election Pressure Mounting, More States Suspend Fuel Taxes

A sticker affixed to a gas pump blames President Donald Trump for the high prices. Like Indiana, several states are suspending gas taxes or rolling back regulations on diesel fuel as voters grow increasingly frustrated with rising fuel costs. By Alex Brown Indiana Capital Chronicle Indiana Gov. Mike Braun first suspended Indiana’s sales tax on gasoline purchases in April. The next month he continued the move and added the state’s excise tax to the suspension. Hoosiers motorists are saving about 60 cents a gallon in taxes. If Braun renews his order Nov. 4 for a final 30 days, the total savings will reach $1.1 billion. But with Election Day only weeks away, lawmakers in several states are also suspending gas taxes or rolling back regulations on diesel fuel as voters grow increasingly frustrated with rising fuel costs amid President Donald Trump’s war with Iran. Trump issued an executive order to expand access to tax-free diesel fuel nationwide, following the lead of several governors who have taken the same step. Trump signed the order at a Nebraska rally, promising U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts and Gov. Jim Pillen, both Republicans, that “this should absolutely ensure your election, I guarantee you that,” the Associated Press reported. Ohio lawmakers voted last month to approve a 90-day gas tax holiday, a move called for by both the Democratic and Republican candidates for governor. While many Democrats joined with Republicans to pass the bill, some Democratic leaders called the measure a last-ditch effort to salvage the GOP’s electoral prospects, the Ohio Capital Journal reported. Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp suspended the state’s gas tax with an executive order, as did Indiana Republican Gov. Mike Braun. And Utah lawmakers voted earlier this year to temporarily reduce the gas tax by 15%. Tennessee will allow farmers and loggers to use cheaper, tax-exempt diesel on public roads through the month of October to provide relief from high prices during harvest season, Gov. Bill Lee announced Tuesday.  Record-high diesel prices that economists attribute mostly to the United States’ war in Iran have become a pressure point ahead of midterm  Meanwhile, 10 states had reduced restrictions on the use of tax-exempt diesel fuel prior to Trump’s order that loosened those restrictions nationwide. That fuel, known as red-dyed diesel, is normally only allowed for off-highway agricultural, industrial and railroad use, according to the North Dakota Monitor. Some governors have issued executive orders expanding the use of red-dyed diesel, which is not taxed like regular diesel,  in a bid to help farmers and truckers with transportation costs. North Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, North Carolina and Indiana have all issued similar orders, according to the Associated Press. In other states, leaders are facing pressure to take similar action. The Iowa Corn Growers Association is urging lawmakers there to follow suit, while asking them to push the Trump administration to release oil from the U.S. Strategic Oil Reserve. In Kentucky, Republican Agriculture Commissioner Jonathan Shell has asked Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear to also roll back restrictions on untaxed diesel. And Connecticut Republicans have proposed a three-month holiday on fuel taxes, while Democrats have countered that they should focus on ending Trump’s war with Iran.