South Fulton County

Gov. Kemp extends suspension of state gas tax into mid-September

ATLANTA — Gas prices in Georgia should remain lower than in other states.

The governor extended the suspension of Georgia’s gas tax on Wednesday.

Channel 2 Action News broke the story on Tuesday after sources confirmed to Channel 2′s Richard Elliot that Gov. Brian Kemp would extend the suspension once again, which was set to expire on Aug. 13.

Suspending that gas tax isn’t cheap. So far, it has cost the state of Georgia nearly $500 million in revenue.

State leaders say, for now, the state can afford it.

Elliot found cars lined up for gas at the Murphy Express station on Cleveland Avenue on Wednesday.

Breasya Jenkins told him that she has been using a gas app to find the cheapest prices around.

But even with gas prices coming down, it’s still impacting her budget.

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Jenkins said she’s still having to spend roughly “an extra $20 a week” on gas.

In a tweeted video, Kemp blamed President Joe Biden and Democrats for high gas prices.

“As I said when we first suspended the state gas tax all the way back in March, we can’t fix everything that Washington has broken,” Kemp said.

But Democratic opponent Stacey Abrams said in a statement that Kemp needs to commit to suspending it for the rest of the year, not trickle it out month by month.

“The very least the governor can do is give Georgia families the reassurance of knowing that the state gas tax will not be in effect for the rest of 2022,” Abrams said.

Priscilla Williams told Elliot that she is hoping gas prices continue to drop.

“I need them to come down just a little bit more,” Williams said. “That would make it a lot better for a lot of people.”

State leaders say when lawmakers come back in January, they’ll be able to move money around to make sure the Georgia Department of Transportation has all the funds it needs for its projects.

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