Fayette lawmaker proposes axing Pa. gas tax through 2022
As governors across the country push the president for a gas tax holiday, a Fayette County lawmaker plans to introduce a bill in the Pennsylvania Legislature to suspend the state levy.
“With our governor and the president unwilling to take steps to boost domestic energy production, this is one way we can help our citizens afford to continue powering their vehicles and their homes,” state Rep. Ryan Warner, R-Perryopolis, said Wednesday.
Pennsylvania’s gas tax is the highest in the country at 58 cents per gallon. Getting rid of the state tax through 2022 – which is what his legislation calls for – would give Pennsylvanians immediate, and needed relief, Warner said.
Pennsylvania’s tax is used to fund state road and bridge projects, and Warner said he knows those projects must continue.
“This bill would replace every cent of gas tax not paid during the suspension with the record amount of federal stimulus funding we still have available,” Warner said. “Instead of directing this money to new spending that will saddle Pennsylvanians with higher taxes, as the governor has proposed in his bloated $43.7 billion budget, let’s use it to help families and employers deal with rising costs while also maintaining funding for necessary road and bridge projects.”
Warner said there’s a total of $2.5 billion of federal stimulus money in the state’s rainy day fund, and a total of $8.8 billion in unspent funds between that and the current surplus remaining in collected tax revenues.
Warner said the support for his measure is both overwhelming and bipartisan.
He noted many governors, including Pennsylvania’s Gov. Tom Wolf, have asked President Joe Biden for a federal gas tax holiday. The federal gas tax is 18.4 cents per gallon, and Wolf and the other governors have asked the president to suspend that tax through 2022.
State Rep. Matthew Dowling, R-Uniontown, said he supports the measure.
“The suspension of the Pennsylvania gas tax will help protect Pennsylvanians from a sudden increase in transportation costs,” Dowling said. “I believe responsible budgeting could include moving the state police funding out of the motor vehicle fund and into the general fund.”