Fifteen New York state senators are asking Gov. Kathy Hochul to support a gas and diesel tax holiday to lower the cost of filling up.
The senators signed on to a March 31 letter from Hudson Valley state Sen. Michelle Hinchey to the governor calling for a suspension in the taxes in response to the recent rise in fuel costs caused by the war in Iran.
“This increase has disrupted daily life for New Yorkers statewide, from commuting to industrial production to tourism,” Hinchey wrote, adding that a gas tax holiday “would be a vital step toward helping New Yorkers struggling with these increased costs.”
New York last instituted a gas tax holiday from June 1, 2022, through Dec. 31, 2022, which cut about 16 cents per gallon in state excise and sales tax on gasoline and diesel. Some counties joined the effort by capping local taxes.
That came after state lawmakers in both parties called for a gas tax suspension amid a sharp rise in prices brought on by inflation as well as the war in Ukraine, causing the average gallon in some areas of the state to top $4.
Hinchey told Hochul that, according to AAA, at the time of the 2022 tax holiday, the average price per gallon in New York was $3 for regular gas and $4.01 for diesel. She added that since war started in Iran and the ensuing blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, gas has spiked to $3.94 and diesel to $5.77 a gallon.
“This comes at a time when our farmers, manufacturers, and other industries already face damaging input cost increases from arbitrary and disruptive federal tariffs,” Hinchey stated.
In a statement released Friday, Hochul sounded unreceptive to the request.
“We’ve done it before and what happens is, the companies increase their cost by the same amount, so the consumer only sees it continue to go up. That’s the reality of what happened last time we did this,” Hochul said. “But also, this is a problem created by the federal government. If the federal government wants to give some relief, almost 20 cents per gallon of gas is a federal tax as well. So we need them to give relief and also help us out here. They created this. You need to solve it. You break it, you fix it.”
New Yorkers pay a combination of state and local taxes when purchasing gas. The state charges about 33 cents per gallon of gas, according to the state Division of Budget. Some counties have a local sales tax of 7%, others set their tax at 8%.
