This week AAA reported that the price of gas increased in New York State.
Across the remainder of the nation the average price of a gallon of gas decreased.
Those two conflicting datapoints have prompted many lawmakers across the state to call for the gas tax holiday to be extended beyond December 31st.
Right now, the gas tax holiday that went into effect in June is set to expire at the end of the year. Motorists are saving approximately 16 cents per gallon through the gas tax suspension.
Lawmakers like Democrat Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara say it’s time to act, as economic conditions have not changed enough to warrant ending it.
“It makes sense to extend it for at least another 6 months, then when we come together to do the budget, we can reconsider this and talk about if we need to extend it even another year because the reality is, it’s saving people money,” Santabarbara explained.
Republican Senator Jim Tedisco says he wants to see a special session. He’s calling for a full-exemption, which would save motorists 33 cents per gallon. That legislation calls for a sliding scale on gas tax collection. The savings would begin when gas reaches $2.25 per gallon and hit 33 cents saved per gallon when it exceeds $3.
Governor Kathy Hochul provided no indication on whether she would support additional relief. Her office pointed to past measures that provided hundreds of millions of dollars in relief for consumers.
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