President Biden on Wednesday referred to as on Congress to droop the 18-cent federal gasoline tax for the summer season amid record-high costs on the pump, however trade analysts say the transfer would save drivers only some {dollars} and will spark an “unintended effect.”
With common gasoline costs hovering round $5 a gallon, Biden is pushing Congress to approve a three-month gasoline tax vacation by September. Also on Wednesday, the president referred to as on states to droop their very own gasoline taxes or assist customers in different methods.
Gas costs have surged because the begin of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, hitting document highs final week. The common for normal in Massachusetts spiked as much as $5.04 on June 12 earlier than falling again under $5 a gallon this week.
“The price of gas is up by almost $2 a gallon since Putin accelerated his military build-up, and those high prices pose a challenge for working families,” Biden tweeted on Wednesday.
“Today, I’m calling on Congress to suspend the federal gas tax for three months to provide Americans some much-needed relief,” he added.
While different states, like Connecticut and New York, have suspended their gasoline taxes, Democrats within the Massachusetts State House have continued to reject Republican proposals for a gasoline tax vacation.
In addition to Biden calling on states to droop their gasoline taxes or present equal reduction, he’s additionally urging oil corporations to extend output and the trade to go alongside the lower in oil costs. Taken collectively, these actions might drop costs on the pump as much as $1 a gallon, in accordance with the White House.
But solely suspending the 18-cent federal gasoline tax would save the common driver about $3 for a full refill.
“It would not be a total game changer,” mentioned Mark Schieldrop of AAA Northeast.
Over the previous few weeks, Schieldrop has been emphasizing that decrease gasoline demand is the issue that can trigger costs to drop.
“If this pushes demand up, then there could be an unintended effect of prices rallying a bit and then the savings are wiped out,” he mentioned.
“Maybe demand won’t go up that much just from 18 cents per gallon in savings, but we really don’t know,” Schieldrop added. “It would be an interesting scenario to see if 18 cents is really a difference maker for consumers at the gas pump.”
Demand for gasoline has declined within the final week, maybe in response to record-breaking excessive gasoline costs, and that has helped push down costs on the pump, in accordance with AAA.
The common worth for normal within the Bay State on Wednesday was $4.98 a gallon, down from $4.99 on Tuesday. Prices are down 6 cents over the previous week.
“It’s nice to see the pennies trickling away little by little,” Schieldrop mentioned. “We’re positively on target, and the common ought to proceed to fall.
“We have a ways to go, we’re not out of the woods quite yet, but it’s a better scenario than a week ago,” he added.
While the common is under $5 a gallon throughout the state, Suffolk County’s common is at $5.15 and Middlesex County’s common is $5.03. The common worth on Nantucket is $6.12, and on Martha’s Vineyard gasoline is $6.04.
The finest gasoline discount within the Bay State proper now’s Hampden County, the place gasoline has fallen to $4.88.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”