Republicans blame Moore, Democrats for no gas tax holiday but never introduced bill

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ANNAPOLIS — Asked what happened to the Republican-proposed gas tax holiday, Maryland Senate Minority Whip Justin Ready, R-Frederick and Carroll, said on Thursday, “Ask Wes Moore.”

“The reality is the governor could do this,” said Senate Minority Leader Steve Hershey, R-Upper Eastern Shore, at a news conference. “He could come down and tell the General Assembly that he feels it’s necessary to implement this savings of almost 47 cents a gallon.”

“But he refused to do that,” said Hershey, who ultimately never filed legislation to implement the gas tax holiday.

In mid-March, House of Delegates and Senate Republican leadership announced that they planned to introduce emergency legislation to implement a 30-day gas tax holiday in light of rising oil prices due to the war in Iran.

At the time, AAA reported that the average gas price in Maryland was $3.82. As of Thursday morning, it had risen to $4.06.

Hershey; Ready; House Minority Leader Jason Buckel, R-Allegany; and House Minority Whip Jesse Pippy, R-Frederick, said on March 19 that they were sending a letter to Moore, a Democrat, asking him to endorse the policy.

Moore spokesperson Ammar Moussa said last month that a 30-day gas tax holiday would “blow a $100 million hole” in Maryland’s transportation budget and disrupt work the governor and legislature have done to reconcile the billion-dollar plus shortfall.

“If Maryland Republicans are serious about lowering costs, they should pick up the phone and call Donald Trump and tell him to end this missionless war— instead of asking Maryland taxpayers to help pay for it. This war is costing more than a billion dollars a day and driving up the price of oil, fuel, and everyday goods,” Moussa wrote in a text message to The Daily Record. “The best way to address the source of the pain, not shift the cost of Donald Trump’s war on Maryland families.”

When Republicans announced their plans to attempt to implement a 30-day gas tax holiday, Buckel and Pippy said that they intended to do so via an amendment to the budget’s companion bill.

They did — unsuccessfully.

On March 25, Del. Todd Morgan, R-Calvert and St. Mary’s, brought forth the amendment, saying it was “about affordability.”

“That’s been the theme of this session — it’s about affordability and putting a little bit of money back in the people’s pockets,” Morgan said.

House Appropriations Committee Vice Chair Anne Kaiser, D-Montgomery, combatted his amendment, calling gas tax holidays “gimmicky” and “bad governance,” adding that moving forward with the measure could come at a $115 million cost to the state’s Transportation Trust Fund.

The state has experienced this in recent history.

In 2022, Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, signed legislation passed by the General Assembly to enact a gas tax holiday related to the start of the war in Ukraine. That 30-day pause cost the state $100 million.

“As I notice every day, my nearly 7-year-old daughter is getting older, smarter and more mature,” said Kaiser. “And so are we.”

Buckel jumped up to defend the amendment after it failed on a vote of 44-88, saying that it wasn’t “gimmicky” because Democratic politicians in other states — like Florida, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and New York — were attempting to implement a gas tax holiday at the same time.

“It’s amazing how every other place can propose this, and Democrats from sea to shining sea — or at least on the Atlantic seaboard, sea to shining sea — can propose this, and it can be a valid idea, and it can be accepted, but here, it’s not,” he said.

Taking a different approach, Senate Republicans said that they had planned to sponsor a bill but never did. The legislation was drafted but had to be accepted on the floor before being introduced because of how late in the session it was.

As such, it was never heard before a Senate standing committee.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this article incorrectly reported that the legislation had not been filed. Republicans filed to have it drafted but never introduced it to the Senate floor. The Daily Record regrets the error.