NY GOP lawmakers make case for suspending gas tax
New York State (WRGB) — While Governor Hochul was being non-committal about a gas tax holiday on Monday, state lawmakers made another push to make it happen. The Senate included the plan in their one house budget on Monday--part of their wish list going into the full budget negotiations.
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Earlier in the day, state Republican lawmakers made their case that, thanks to a sky-high rate of inflation and cost of living, it was time to give New Yorkers a tax break.
GOP lawmakers not only want to suspend the gas tax, but they also want to make sure that when the tax is collected again that it goes toward its original purpose--fixing New York's roads and bridges. They say right now only 17 cents of every dollar collected from the gas tax goes to infrastructure repair.
The GOP lawmakers say, on a national level, the Democrats have put a stop to any other available energy source. They want New York to use its ten-billion-dollar budget surplus to lighten the burden on taxpayers.
Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, who is also running for Congress, says New Yorkers are spending 290 dollars more a month to live than two years ago. And he believes suspending the gas tax is part of the solution. According to Molinaro, "Doing so will immediately offer at least the signal, and in some cases the reality, of relief at the pump. And secondly, America and New York should look at expanding its supply of oil. "
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As we reported just last week, upstate New Yorkers re paying more than 65 cents a gallon in local, state, and federal gas taxes. 33 cents of that goes to New York. That means if you fill your 15-gallon tank, you're paying an extra five dollars a fill-up to the state gas tax.
It's important to point out that while the Senate added a gas tax suspension to its one house budget, the Assembly did not.
