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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2021 - 2022
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | March 9, 2022 08:30 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Jake Corman |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Consumer Gas Prices Relief Act |
| In the near future, I intend to introduce legislation known as Consumer Gas Prices Relief Act, that would help lower gas prices and bring much-needed economic relief to families. Yesterday afternoon, Tuesday, 3/8/22, Governor Wolf called on Congressional leaders to enact a federal gas tax holiday through the end of the year. The federal gasoline tax is currently 18 cents per gallon. My legislation would propose that we lower the state’s liquid fuels tax by one-third through the end of the year. Based on estimates, this would reduce the state gasoline tax by nearly 20 cents per gallon. Taken together, the two tax cuts could reduce total fuel taxes on consumers by nearly 50 percent. First, my proposal would use $500 million of federal relief dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021 to help fund Pennsylvania State Police operations so money would not need to be diverted from the Motor License Fund (MLF). Second, my proposal would require the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to issue a $650 million bond to ensure critical infrastructure projects remain funded during the period of the gas tax reduction for consumers. In the past several days, we have seen gas prices skyrocket to historic levels, breaking a record set in June 2008 of $4.15 per gallon, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic. We must do all that we can to address this now at the state government level and offer our support to hard-working families across this Commonwealth. We must examine every option we have available. Taking this action now will not only provide much-needed economic relief for families for the upcoming months, but it will help us determine how we can best meet our long-term infrastructure needs without relying so heavily on the gas tax in the future. I ask that you consider co-sponsoring this important legislation. |
Introduced as SB10