Texas officials from both parties are backing proposals to temporarily suspend state fuel taxes as gasoline prices continue rising across the state.
According to AAA Texas, the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline in the Austin area surpassed $4 on Tuesday, up $1.24 from the same time last year.
President Donald Trump said this week that his administration is considering a temporary suspension of the federal gas tax, which currently stands at 18.4 cents per gallon. The federal tax on diesel fuel is 24.4 cents per gallon.
Asked on Monday how long the federal tax could be paused, Trump responded, “Until it’s appropriate,” The Dallas Express reported.
Earlier on Monday, during a phone interview with CBS News, Trump said that suspending the gas tax is “a great idea,” adding, “We’re going to take off the gas tax for a period of time, and when gas goes down, we’ll let it phase back in.”
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller renewed his calls for both federal and state fuel tax relief. He praised Trump’s consideration of a federal pause and urged Gov. Greg Abbott to take similar action in Texas, where the state tax on gas is 20 cents per gallon.
“Several weeks ago, I called on both Texas Governor Abbott and President Trump to temporarily suspend both the state and federal motor fuels tax in order to provide relief to hardworking families who are struggling due to this brief period of higher than usual gasoline prices,” Miller said in a statement on Tuesday.
“I am very pleased that President Trump is seriously considering doing exactly that. That’s what leadership looks like, and our President has it in spades,” he added.
Miller argued that higher fuel costs are putting additional strain on Texas agriculture and rural communities.
“Texas agriculture is already battling drought, high input costs, and economic uncertainty,” Miller said. “Fuel prices impact everything from planting and harvesting to hauling livestock and stocking grocery shelves. Temporary fuel tax relief is common sense, pro-consumer, and pro-Texas.”
The agriculture commissioner also noted that Indiana, Georgia, and Utah have taken steps to provide fuel tax relief and again called on Abbott to act.
“Governors in Indiana, Georgia, and Utah have already stepped up to provide relief for their citizens, and I once again renew my call for Governor Abbott to follow the lead of President Trump and act decisively for Texas families,” Miller said.
A pause on both federal and state gas taxes would save Texans approximately $5 to $6 per average tank of gas.
The governor’s office pushed back strongly against the proposal, saying Abbott does not have the authority to suspend the state gas tax through executive action.
“There’s a reason Sid Miller lost his election, it’s because he doesn’t shoot straight with Texans,” Abbott press secretary Andrew Mahaleris said in a statement. “Any suggestion that the Texas governor is authorized by law to suspend a gas tax is entirely uninformed or purposefully misleading.”
Mahaleris added, “If the Texas governor could suspend taxes, he would have suspended the property tax years ago.”
Miller responded on Tuesday by criticizing Abbott’s office and arguing the governor has previously exercised broad executive authority in other situations.
“Texans have watched Governor Abbott repeatedly pick and choose when and how to wield executive authority over the years, whether through emergency declarations, disaster powers, regulatory actions, or suspending certain rules and regulations when it suited his priorities,” Miller said.
“The question Texans are asking is simple: if executive authority can be used aggressively in other situations, why wouldn’t every available tool be used right now to help hard working families being crushed by high fuel prices?”
Miller also disputed the spokesman’s comparison to property taxes.
“Contrary to his statement today, the Governor should know that the state doesn’t even collect property taxes, so he couldn’t suspend those taxes if he wanted to,” Miller said.
Support for a temporary federal gas tax suspension has emerged from both political parties.
State Rep. James Talarico, a Democrat from Austin and candidate for the U.S. Senate, endorsed the idea last month.
“Lowering prices at the pump should be a bipartisan commitment,” Talarico said Monday, Fox SA reported.
Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn said he could support a short-term federal pause depending on the details.
“There’s a difference between a temporary suspension and a permanent suspension,” Cornyn said Monday, per Fox. “I don’t know exactly what the President has in mind. I think a temporary suspension getting through this sort of bumpy time because of uncertainty about energy prices, I can live with that.”
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa has also called for a suspension of the Texas state gas tax. For now, however, Abbott’s office maintains that a state-level tax suspension cannot be enacted through executive authority alone.
