Kemp signs temporary gas tax suspension
ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation Friday, March 18, temporarily suspending Georgia’s sales tax on gasoline.
The state House and Senate passed House Bill 304 unanimously during the last week.
Gasoline prices have skyrocketed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine more than three weeks ago and the subsequent ban on U.S. imports of Russian oil President Joe
Biden imposed last week.
The state has suspended the gasoline tax in the past when fuel supplies were disrupted, most recently when the Colonial Pipeline shut down last May following a ransomware attack.
The governor is legally allowed to suspend the tax by executive order when the General Assembly is not meeting. In this case, with lawmakers in session, Kemp waited until the bill he proposed made its way through the
House and Senate.
The suspension is due to expire May 31 unless the governor decides pump prices are still high enough to warrant continuing it.
Suspension of the tax will save Georgians 29.1 cents per gallon of gasoline, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Hufstetler, R-Rome, said before Thursday’s (March 17) vote.
“The 29 cents is not going to completely solve the problem,” he said. “But it’s a start and a statement.”
Hufstetler went on to accuse the Biden administration of contributing to higher gas prices through the Democratic president’s decision to cancel the Keystone XL project last year and ban drilling for oil and gas in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and on federal lands in Alaska.
Sen. Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming, said gas prices started rising well before Russian troops entered Ukraine three weeks ago.
“Gas prices were up last year by
$1 a gallon,” he said.
But Senate Democrats said the oil industry is to blame for holding down oil production in the U.S., not the Biden administration. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm called on the industry to step up production of oil and gas.
“The administration only has control over drilling on federal lands,” said Sen. Nan Orrock, D-Atlanta. “It’s the fossil-fuel industry’s decision not to drill. ... There are permits oil companies have that they’re
not accessing ... because it’s not cost-effective. They’re making decisions on the expectation that demand for fossil fuels will decrease.”
Hufstetler said temporarily suspending the gas tax will cost the state an estimated $300 million to $400 million in lost revenue. That gap will be covered by reserve funds, he said.
The suspension will expire May 31. Kemp could extend it after that by executive order if he deems it necessary.