Fox Cities News

As Democratic senators back a proposal to suspend the federal gasoline tax, Wisconsin’s state treasurer, who is running for the Senate, has joined in support of the controversial measure.

In early February, Senators. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) proposed legislation to waive the 18.4-cent federal gas tax through 2022. An editorial in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) pointed out that would carry the measure through next year’s mid-term elections; this could benefit Democrats like Wisconsin’s Sarah Godlewski, who is a candidate for the Senate.

“Wisconsin families are feeling the effects of inflation everywhere – at the grocery store, in their monthly bills, and at the gas pump – and can’t afford to keep stretching their pocketbooks,” Godlewski said recently. “Congress must take action to lower costs for workers and families, starting with suspending the gas tax and reinstating the extended Child Tax Credit. It’s time for our leaders to step up and get the job done, or step aside.”

In addition to supporting the gas-tax measure, Godlewski has urged Congress to reinstate the Child Tax Credit payments that were made last year to families. Godlewski also said that lawmakers should break up President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan and pass it as individual pieces of legislation.

Suspending the federal gas tax would cut prices to where they were in October, the WSJ editorial said, though that help may only be temporary, as crude oil prices recently passed $90 per barrel and could rise even more by summer.

Despite their push for the suspension, "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 editorial said.

According to the American Automobile Association's (AAA) price tracker, gas costs in Wisconsin have risen to $3.28 per gallon and $3.79 for diesel. The nationwide rate currently sits at $3.44.