A federal gas tax suspension was co-sponsored by legislators from Nevada. | Falkenpost/Pixabay
A federal gas tax suspension was co-sponsored by legislators from Nevada. | Falkenpost/Pixabay
There's a buzz about a federal gas tax suspension, and Democratic senators have shown their support towards it.
"Nevadans are struggling with rising prices at the pump," Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) said in a tweet Feb. 12. "That's why I'm calling for a suspension on the federal gas tax so that we can lower gas prices and bring relief to hardworking families."
In early February, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) along with Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-Conn.) proposed legislation to waive the federal gas tax, which sits at 18.4 cents per gallon, through 2022. The editorial board of The Wall Street Journal pointed out that this time frame is long enough to get them past the pressure-filled reelections in November.
Cortez Masto, who is up for reelection in November, and Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) have announced their co-sponsorship of the bill, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Gas price averages in Nevada are up to $3.97 per gallon of regular gas, according to AAA. Diesel costs an average of $4.07 per gallon.
Democrats, including Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), are reluctant to place blame on Biden for the spike in pump prices.
"Rising gas prices are a global issue caused by the behavior of Russia and other factors," Maloney said, according to The Wall Street Journal editorial board.
"Senate Democrats who want to suspend the gas tax support President Biden's Build Back Better Act that would impose myriad new taxes on U.S. oil and gas," The Wall Street Journal editorial board said.
As the country's political environment becomes increasingly hostile, Saudi Arabia has become the world's swing producer of oil. The Wall Street Journal editorial board said that pre-pandemic, the U.S. held that title. Now, "U.S. producers have cut investment" in oil, causing the spike in pump prices.
The Wall Street Journal editorial board said Biden is largely to blame.
"The Biden administration has slow-rolled oil and gas permits, halted lease sales on federal land, suspended leases in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge ... while activist progressive investors abet the industry's strangulation," the editorial board said.
The administration has driven financial regulation to deny capital to the fossil fuel industry, the editorial board said.
In January 2022, a federal Obama-appointed judge blocked the sale of oil and gas drilling leases across an 80-million acre stretch in the Gulf of Mexico, The Guardian reported.
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