On Tuesday, Arizona State Senator Warren Petersen called for the suspension of the gas tax to offer some relief to families struggling to make ends meet. Currently, the State of Arizona is operating with a $1 billion surplus.
AZ State Senator Warren Petersen discusses his call to suspend the Arizona Gas Tax to provide relief over high gas https://t.co/V9jp1itz8V
— James T Harris (@JamesTHarris) April 6, 2022
According to GasBuddy, Arizona has some of the highest gas prices in the country, with prices 63.5 cents per gallon higher than a month ago and nearly $1.60 a gallon higher than a year ago.
Arizona needs to suspend the gas tax to provide relief to our citizens. We have more money in the state coffers than ever. Let’s do it.
— Warren Petersen (@votewarren) April 5, 2022
State Representative David Cook, who has been advocating for a similar suspension in the Arizona House, agreed with Petersen‘s sentiment, saying “We have an opportunity to provide immediate relief for Arizona families by suspending the gas tax, and we should be doing it.”
In January Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, declared a gas tax holiday for residents to ease the pain created by the Biden administration’s relentless inflation.
According to the Arizona Department of Transportation:
Arizona’s tax on gasoline (motor vehicle fuel) is 18¢ per gallon. Use fuel (diesel) is taxed at two rates in Arizona. If the use fuel is used in the propulsion of a use class motor vehicle on a highway in this state, the tax rate is 26¢ for each gallon.”
The state of Arizona taxes motor fuels and collects a variety of fees and charges relating to the registration and operation of motor vehicles on the public highways of the state. These collections include gasoline and use-fuel taxes, motor-carrier taxes, vehicle-license taxes, motor vehicle registration fees and other miscellaneous fees. These revenues are deposited in the Arizona Highway User Revenue Fund (HURF) and are then distributed to the cities, towns and counties and to the State Highway Fund.