Yesterday, six U.S. Senate Democrats introduced legislation to suspend the federal fuels tax for the remainder of 2022.Bill would temporarily suspend the federal gas tax, provide Nevada families economic relief from high gas prices
Yesterday, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) joined Senators Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) to introduce the Gas Prices Relief Act, legislation to lower high gas prices and bring much-needed economic relief to Nevada families by temporarily suspending the federal gas tax. This legislation is also co-sponsored by Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.).
“This is important legislation that will help us lower costs for Nevada families,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “I’m committed to finding solutions that bring our families some much-needed relief at the pump and help them get ahead.”
The Gas Prices Relief Act will lower high gas prices and deliver much-needed economic relief to Nevadans by:
- Suspending the 18.4 cents per gallon federal gas tax until January 1, 2023. Currently, the national average for the cost of a gallon of gas is nearly one dollar higher than it was at the same time last year, according to AAA. Last year, Nevada was ranked by AAA as one of the most expensive markets for gas prices.
- Passing tax savings to Americans and not oil and gas companies by requiring the Secretary of the Treasury to monitor oil and gas companies’ actions to pass along the savings at the pump to consumers. The bill also encourages the Secretary to take appropriate enforcement actions to ensure consumers see these savings.
- Maintaining the integrity of the Highway Trust Fund by requiring the Department of the Treasury to make general fund transfers to keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent.
Cortez Masto has consistently pushed to lower costs for Nevadans over the past year, pushing critical legislation to alleviate supply chain bottlenecks and calling on the Biden administration to develop a long-term, government-wide strategy to lower gas prices.
Also attached is a chart that tracks historic gasoline rates in real and nominal dollars and includes the projection from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) that gasoline prices will drop 57 cents over the next year. The EIA report is here: https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/report/prices.php
Also attached is a Transportation Investment Advocacy Center (TIAC) report that tracked 113 recent gasoline tax increases and decreases in 29 states from 2013 to 2018, and showed minimal impacts on the price at the pump. That report is here: https://transportationinvestment.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/TIAC_June2020_Report_v2.pdf