Democrats Push Gas Prices Relief Act to Suspend Federal Gas Tax as Pump Prices Climb

(UNITED STATES) — Senators Mark Kelly of Arizona and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut introduced the Gas Prices Relief Act on Monday, proposing to suspend the federal gas tax of 18.4 cents per gallon until October 1, 2026 as pump prices climb across the country.

A companion bill is being introduced in the House by Representative Chris Pappas, a New Hampshire Democrat. The proposal would direct the savings to consumers and replace money for affected programs, including highway maintenance, from the Department of Treasury’s general fund.

The measure arrived as drivers face a sharp rise in fuel costs. AAA put the national average price for regular gasoline at $3.981 per gallon as of March 26, 2026, up 10 cents from one week earlier, up $1 from one month earlier, and up 26 cents from one year earlier.

Those increases reflect a mix of global and seasonal pressures. The Iran conflict has entered its fourth week, disruptions have hit the Strait of Hormuz, gasoline demand rose to 8.92 million barrels per day last week, and refiners have shifted to the more expensive summer-blend fuel.

Oil prices have moved higher as well. Brent crude trades above $113 per barrel amid stalled ceasefire negotiations that began April 8, 2026.

The sponsors are trying to revive an idea that returns whenever gasoline prices jump fast enough to become a political problem. The federal levy is small compared with the total price at the pump, but it is visible, fixed, and national, which makes it an obvious target when lawmakers want to show a direct response.

Kelly has backed a similar approach before. In 2022, he joined Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire on a proposal to suspend the tax through January 1, 2023, with co-sponsors including Senators Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, and Raphael Warnock of Georgia.

At that time, AAA said the national average had reached $3.45 per gallon. Current prices are well above that mark.

Regional figures show how unevenly the latest run-up has spread. The Energy Information Administration’s latest Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Update put the Central Atlantic, also known as PADD1B, at $4.025 per gallon, compared with $4.131 previously.

In the Lower Atlantic, or PADD1C, the average stood at $3.794, down from $3.817. The Midwest, or PADD2, averaged $3.789, compared with $3.884 in the previous reading.

Local prices in parts of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic have moved beyond those regional averages. New Jersey averages $4.30 to $4.79 per gallon, New York City stations are at $5.99, and Maryland is at $3.87, up from $3.62 last week.

AAA said prices are now the highest in nearly four years, surpassing peaks reached in August 2022. That comparison gives the latest proposal a familiar backdrop: lawmakers again face an election-year style pocketbook issue, but with a different overseas trigger and a different point in the fuel market cycle.

The tax holiday bill tries to answer one of the standard objections to suspending the federal levy. Rather than leave transportation programs short of revenue, it would fund the affected programs from the Treasury’s general fund.

That design addresses highway funding on paper, but it does not remove the central argument on Capitol Hill over whether a tax suspension meaningfully changes pump prices. Republicans have largely dismissed the proposal as too weak to matter.

Senate GOP Leader Kevin Kelly of Connecticut and other Republicans have shown little interest, calling the idea underwhelming or ineffective. The language tracks criticism that surfaced during the 2022 debate, when Senator Mitch McConnell called a similar proposal an “ineffective stunt” and Senator Mike Lee called it “treacherous.”

Those past attacks point to a broader political problem for the new bill. Democrats are offering a measure that promises immediate, visible relief, while Republicans argue the cut is too small and too temporary to offset wider inflation pressures tied to the oil market and military tension involving Iran.

State governments have moved on their own, often with fewer procedural barriers than Congress faces. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, a Republican, extended a gas tax holiday through mid-August by executive order.

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, a Democrat, suspended the tax until December 1, 2026 through a budget package. In Maryland, Republicans have proposed a 30-day holiday modeled on the relief adopted in 2022 during the Ukraine war under Governor Larry Hogan, a Republican.

The patchwork has produced different political alignments in different states. Republican governors and Democratic governors alike have embraced some form of temporary tax relief when local prices moved high enough to generate pressure from commuters and small businesses.

Canada has taken a similar step at the national level, pausing its 10-cent gas tax and 4-cent diesel tax through September 7, 2026. That action does not alter U.S. market conditions, but it adds another example lawmakers can point to as they argue over temporary tax relief.

Still, the federal debate turns on scale. A suspension of 18.4 cents per gallon would trim the posted price if retailers passed the full amount through, but recent weekly and monthly moves in the market have been much larger.

The national average rose by 10 cents in a week and by $1 in a month. Against changes that large, a tax holiday offers a defined reduction but not insulation from another surge in crude or another disruption in shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Demand is also climbing as the country heads toward the busiest driving months. Gasoline consumption reached 8.92 million barrels per day last week, and the switch to summer-blend fuel has raised production costs at the same time families begin planning road trips and businesses prepare for seasonal delivery demand.

That timing makes the politics more difficult for both parties. If prices keep rising into the summer, pressure for visible action will grow; if prices ease, critics of the bill will argue the market corrected without federal intervention.

No federal passage had been reported as of May 11, 2026. The bill faces partisan hurdles in a Congress where inflation concerns tied to Iran strikes and the summer driving season have sharpened arguments over how much government can do, and how fast, to lower prices that drivers see every time they pull up to a pump.