Biden calls on on Congress and states to take additional legislative action to provide direct relief to American consumers
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday called on Congress to suspend federal gasoline and diesel taxes until the end of September to provide relief to American consumers as price of gas is up by almost $2 a gallon.
At the moment, the federal government charges an 18 cent tax per gallon of gasoline and a 24 cent tax per gallon of diesel. But with gas prices near $5 a gallon on average across the country, President Biden is calling on Congress to suspend the gas tax for three months to give Americans a little extra breathing room as they deal with the effects of Putin’s war in Ukraine, the White House said.
“I fully understand that a gas tax holiday alone is not going to fix the problem but it will provide families some immediate relief, just a little bit of breathing room, as we continue working on bringing down prices for the long haul,” Biden said.
Biden also called on states to take steps removing their own taxes on gas and diesel and “take additional legislative action to provide direct relief to American consumers who have been hit with Putin’s Price Hike.”
Connecticut and New York governors have temporarily suspended their gas taxes, and Illinois and Colorado governors delayed planned tax and fee increases.In states like Michigan and Minnesota, states and local leaders are also considering a number of forms of consumer relief.
Republicans widely oppose lifting the gas tax. But Biden is determined that even small steps are worth taking. Biden and his advisers face increasing pressure to lower the pressure of record-high gas prices and overall inflation ahead of November elections.
United States produced more oil under the first year of Biden administration than it did under the first two years of the prior Administration, and is on track to set new records next year.
The administration says the main causes of high prices are the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February and oil companies reaping sky-high profits as gasoline demand rises with the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic evidently over.
Actions to lower gas prices
U.S. President announced a series of actions to lower gas prices for American families. These include:
- Release of a record 1 million barrels per day from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which just last week a leading oil market analyst confirmed has been critical to keeping prices from rising even more.
- Rallied international partners to join us, releasing a combined 240 million barrels of oil on the market.
- The President expanded access to biofuels like E15—gasoline that uses a 15 percent ethanol blend—to increase supply and lower prices at thousands of gas stations across the country.
- Biden and his administration are engaging with oil and refining companies to ask them to work with the Administration to bring forward concrete solutions that increase refinery capacity and output. Secretary Granholm is meeting with these CEOs this week.
