'I’m in favor of a temporary one': Gov. Evers considers gas tax suspension amid record-high inflation

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Last week, President Biden urged states to suspend the state gas tax in order to help Americans' wallets. 

We caught up with Governor Evers at a recent event, and he says he's considering a temporary holiday. 

The current gas tax in Wisconsin is nearly 33 cents per gallon.

Gov. Evers says he is considering a gas tax holiday, but he stressed that it would need to be temporary.  

"We cannot just decide it’s a permanent one," said Evers while in town Tuesday, July 26. "We use the tax from gasoline to fix the road, and if we don’t have that money we’re not gonna be able to fix the roads. So I’m in favor of a temporary one using the surplus that we have. We have billions of dollars that are in our coffers, and having that holiday would be appropriate." 

While the average price for gas in Milwaukee right now is $4 a gallon, some gas stations are still charging nearly 40 cents above the average. Not only can that really add up when filling up, it's caused some skepticism about who a gas tax holiday will help -- oil companies or the average driver. 

Eighteen cents of every gallon of unleaded gas, and 24 cents for diesel, also goes towards the federal gas tax. President Biden also called on Congress to suspend the federal gas tax until September, but there has been no movement on that yet.