With gas prices creeping toward $5 a gallon in parts of Ohio, a northwest Ohio lawmaker is racing to give drivers a brief break at the pump right as summer road-trip season ramps up.
Rep. Ty Mathews is finalizing a proposal to suspend Ohio’s gas tax for three months and plans to pitch the temporary gas tax holiday to fellow lawmakers, according to The Columbus Dispatch. He has cast the idea as short-term relief aimed at easing immediate fuel costs for working drivers and families.
The Ohio House website lists Mathews as the Republican representative for Findlay and notes that he has sponsored other tax and transportation-focused measures this session, according to the Ohio House.
Why pump prices are climbing
Gas prices have jumped across the country in recent weeks, with supply disruptions linked to the U.S.-Iran conflict and worries over shipping in the Strait of Hormuz helping push regional prices higher. Federal data show that average retail gasoline prices have climbed sharply over the last month, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Road funding tradeoffs
That kind of tax break would not come free for Ohio’s transportation budget. The state’s motor-fuel excise tax is a major funding source for state and local road work, so even a three-month suspension would cut into money flowing to the highway operating fund and municipal street programs.
The way those motor-fuel tax dollars are carved up between state highways and local projects is set in statute, with detailed formulas for distributing excise tax receipts laid out in state law, per the Ohio Revised Code.
What’s next at the Statehouse
Mathews has said he is still working on the bill’s language and exact timing, and that he wants the pause to overlap the busy summer travel months. If he officially files the measure, it would face committee hearings and would need backing from the Republican-led legislature before it could become law, The Columbus Dispatch reports.
