The 90-day suspension of Ohio’s gas tax backed by Republicans got its first hearing today before a Senate panel. The temporary halt on the 38.5 cent state tax on gas and 47-cent state tax on diesel will come up in an unexpected session tomorrow, called by GOP leaders just to vote on the plan.
Backers of the gas tax suspension said it’ll mean a 20-gallon gas fill-up cost $7.70 less, and they've estimated the impact on diesel truck drivers could be $1,800 over the 90-day holiday period. Senate Bill 475 and House Bill 1019 require the $726 million to cover the gas tax come from the General Revenue Fund, which is a change from the plan announced by Republican candidate for governor Vivek Ramaswamy last week. He said the plan he'd worked out with GOP leaders had the money coming from unspent Ohio Department of Transportation funds. But the Office of Budget and Management reported the $1.8 billion in ODOT's main operating fund was already allocated to construction projects.
In the Senate General Government committee hearing, the bill's Republican joint sponsors stressed the need for the tax relief now, with diesel prices setting a record in the last few weeks.
"Everyone's feeling the pain at the pump. And so I think it's wonderful that we are taking action to do something, what we can control. We can't control the entire price," said Sen. Michele Reynolds, a joint sponsor of SB 475. "A lot of that is driven by supply and demand. But we can control the Ohio tax that is levied."
But the committee's two Democrats raised concerns about whether the relief to drivers is worth the cost to the state and the difficulty in making some of the specific changes in the bill.
"My question back to you is, should we not try? Are you suggesting that because this is difficult, because this is hard, that we do not try to give relief to the Ohioans who need relief right now?" asked Reynolds.
Sen. Bill DeMora (D-Columbus) was clear in his response that he feels the bill is mostly political.
"If you're asking me, it's all a gimmick. Your governor candidate’s underwater. That's the only reason you're doing all this crap," said DeMora.
After the hearing, DeMora blasted the idea further, saying he plans to introduce on the floor an amendment to ban child marriage, but that he’ll still vote against the bill. Amy Acton, Ramaswamy's Democratic opponent in the close race for governor, called for a gas tax holiday a few hours before Ramaswamy announced his more detailed proposal last week. But DeMora said Acton is also wrong on this issue.
“I told her she's wrong and this is wrong and she's wrong because this is a bad idea. This is a gimmick and it's not going to work," DeMora told reporters. "If we have all this money, why aren't we helping with SNAP benefits? Why aren't we helping people with this money? But we're going to help to give a gas tax to help their political candidate. And I'm not going to be part of that crap."
The gas tax holiday needs two-thirds support in both the Senate and the House and a signature from Gov. Mike DeWine to pass as emergency legislation. None of these are guaranteed.
