As President Joe Biden urges Congress to suspend the federal gas tax amid record-high nationwide average prices, Gov. Janet Mills said that she does not support suspending the state’s gas tax.
That stance comes after Mills backed a proposed suspension of the state gas tax that failed to advance through the Legislature, according to the Portland Press Herald. In order to suspend the gas tax, a special legislative session would have to be called, an option that state officials did not comment about on Wednesday evening.
The state’s gas tax adds 30 cents to each gallon, and the federal gas tax adds 18.4 cents per gallon for gas and 24.4 cents per gallon for diesel.
If the state gas tax were suspended, it would save someone who drives approximately 15,000 miles per year in a vehicle that gets an average of 25 miles per gallon about $45 over a period of three months, according to the Maine Department of Transportation. A suspension of the federal gas tax would save drivers about $28 over a period of three months.
Suspending the tax for three months would also remove approximately $57.5 million in revenue from the state’s Highway Fund, a Maine DOT spokesperson told the Press Herald. It would also reduce local road assistance by $3.6 million, and would result in about a $44.3 million loss in revenue for the Maine DOT.
It is unclear whether Biden will have enough support to enact a federal gas tax suspension, with Sen. Susan Collins calling the measure a “gimmick” that wouldn’t significantly affect prices at the pump and Sen. Angus King saying that he worries the suspension “won’t make a significant impact at the pump while harming our nation’s abilities to maintain roads and bridges,” the Press Herald reported.
