HARRISBURG, Pa. - With gas prices still way up, Democratic State Sen. Lisa Boscola is calling for a two-month pause on the state's gas tax starting on July 4.
"I think this is a good way to give taxpayers back their money," Boscola said. "There's no red tape involved, it's not a new program, so it's a very easy fix."
Currently, Pennsylvania has one of the highest gas taxes in the country: Around 58 cents a gallon for regular and 74 cents for diesel.
"That's big savings to people who are filling up their tank, and I've been listening to people all over the Lehigh Valley and beyond saying that they're filling up their gas tanks, it's $60, $80, $100, just to fill up their tank," Boscola said.
To make up for the loss in revenue, the proposal would backfill with extra American Rescue Plan funds.
"We have about $2 billion of that money sitting in the state coffers, plus we have about an $8 billion surplus," Boscola said.
Boscola hopes to see it in the new state budget. It does have some bipartisan support, but not everyone is on board.
"Attorney General Shapiro - who's running for governor - has proposed the idea of a $25 rebate for vehicle owners. I think that makes a lot more sense because then you're covering costs that are actually associated with the gas," said fellow Democrat State Rep. Michael Schlossberg.
Schlossberg is concerned oil companies will just pocket the savings.
"I don't know how you control for that. I don't think you can," Schlossberg said.
"That would be price gouging, and we have bills to do that," Boscola said.
If this proposal, or any proposal on gas taxes, makes it into the budget, it would have to be done quickly. The deadline is this week.
After that lawmakers won't return until September, and, by then, Boscola says, they will have missed the mark.
