The 90-day suspension of the state’s 38.5 cent tax on gasoline goes into effect Sunday. It’ll save drivers $5.77 on a 15-gallon fill up. While that may not be much to some Ohioans, it’s more than owners of hybrids and electric vehicles (EV) see from that gas tax holiday.
The gas tax suspension doesn’t include any discounts for EV drivers, who pay $200 more to register them to pay for their use of roads because they use no gas. It also doesn't include breaks for owners of plug-in hybrids, who pay $150 more for using less gas, or for hybrid owners, who pay $100 extra.
Sen. Casey Weinstein (D-Hudson) said a quarter of vehicles sold in Ohio are EVs or hybrids, and those motorists deserve a break too.
"This is a significant number of Ohioans on the road who are paying their fair share through a registration fee, who are not getting any relief from the economic consequences of Trump's Iran war, and we owe them economic relief too," Weinstein said in an interview.
Weinstein said he wanted the gas tax holiday legislation to include an amendment to provide discounts for those vehicle owners.
"I had an amendment ready to go. Unfortunately, the Republican majority used a procedural motion to shut down all debate and all amendments on the bill," Weinstein said. "It really shut out a huge percentage of drivers on our roads who are paying their fair share, who are feeling economic consequences, who need relief, but who we weren't able to help because of that. So it's very frustrating."
Other Democrats said they wanted to propose amendments as well, including a resolution urging an end to President Trump's war in Iran.
Senate President Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) said of the motion to end debate on the bill: "We came in here saying that we made $725 million cost relief for Ohioans at a time when they need it the most. The Democrats, through some of the theatrics they were trying to pull, were trying to make it about anything other than that, which would be it very well jeopardized what we were trying to do here today. And our caucus thought it was important to get in and get the job done on behalf of Ohioans across the state who desperately need this relief."
McColley is the running mate of Republican candidate for governor Vivek Ramaswamy. Last week Ramaswamy announced the plan to bring lawmakers back to the Statehouse from their campaigning break and pass the gas tax holiday. Ramaswamy's plan was unveiled following a call for a gas tax holiday from Democratic candidate for governor Amy Acton.
The $726 million to cover the lost gas tax revenue, which goes to road construction and repair, will come from the state's general revenue fund. The initial gas tax holiday proposal from Republican legislative leaders had identified Ohio Department of Transportation funds as the source of replacement revenue, but the Office of Budget and Management said the $1.8 billion balance in ODOT's main operating fund had already been allocated to other projects.
