Eleven States Pursuing Fuel Tax Relief

By various means, nearly a dozen states are trying to lower or outright ax their state fuel taxes.

Illinois leads the pack with four bills on the table, including measures to suspend or eliminate inflationary adjustments of the gas tax.

Florida also aims to divorce the state’s annual fuel tax rate from the national consumer price index. Additionally, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also proposed a $1 billion gas tax holiday in his January state of the state address.

California has perhaps the most radical bill of the bunch. SB-1156 would end all annual fuel tax rate adjustments. Two other bills in the state propose various provisions around capping the fuel tax and easing woes at the pump.

Colorado and Ohio both proposed bills that would impact their respective fuel taxes. Colorado’s Department of Transportation is also contemplating a Road Use Charge in lieu of a gas tax.

Legislation failed in Virginia to lower the gas tax and stalled in Washington state, where a bill would have proposed denting the state’s 49.4-cent fuel tax. Maryland, Missouri, Rhode Island and Tennessee state legislatures all have bills in front of them that could curtail prices at the pump.

The state-level measures mirror a nationwide effort spearheaded by Senate Democrats, who proposed a bill that would suspend the federal gas tax for the rest of 2022.