Indiana governor suspends state gas tax for 30 days

Indiana Gov. Mike Braun (R) on Wednesday suspended the Hoosier State’s sales tax on gas for 30 days, as prices at the pump have increased since the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran began.

Braun said at a press conference that he will “look at” whether to further extend the gas tax holiday at the end of the 30-day period but did not guarantee he would do so. Braun also asked gas retailers “to ensure these savings are showing up” at their locations and called on state Attorney General Todd Rokita (R) to “enforce protections from price gouging” by retailers.

“The state will be watching the pumps to make sure savings are delivered to Hoosiers when they go to fill up each week, or whenever they do,” the governor added.

The Indiana gas tax comprises the standard gas tax and a gasoline use tax. The former is set at 36 cents per gallon until June 30 and does not change with Braun’s order, while the latter is equivalent to 7 percent of the statewide average retail price of a gallon of gas. 

The department, using the statewide average price from Feb. 16 to March 15 — which was more than $2.45 — announced on April 1 that the gas use tax for the month is just more than 17 cents. 

But as of Wednesday, gas prices in Indiana are more than $4.13 per gallon, less than 3 cents below the national average, according to AAA. That is more than 67 cents higher than a month ago, roughly a week after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran, and more than 90 cents higher than a year ago.

Gas prices surged after the Iranian government restricted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a move that rocked the gas industry as roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil is transported through the channel. But the price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil, the benchmark for North American markets, sunk to less than $95 per barrel on Wednesday afternoon after President Trump announced he reached a two-week pause in hostilities with Iran.

Braun said his order suspending the gas use tax is “meant to be effective as quickly as we can get it out there” and added that his administration will try to implement the pause by later this week or early next week

“You’re going to have a 30-day holiday from the point of getting it implemented,” the governor noted. 

State Rep. Phil GiaQuinta (D), the minority leader of the Indiana House, backed the suspension but said Braun should have suspended the gas tax sooner.

“I want to be clear: House Democrats support this suspension, but Gov. Braun and Statehouse Republicans are only cleaning up a mess that they helped create,” GiaQuinta said in a release. “Hoosiers are tired of unstrategic and unfocused foreign wars that cost American lives, drive up gas prices and raise the cost of living.”

“This isn’t leadership, it’s a last-minute scramble to keep up the Indiana GOP’s charade of being the ‘fiscally responsible’ party,” he added.