Florida Governor Ron DeSantis primed the political pump on Monday with a proposal to lower gas prices in the state by removing the 25 cent per gallon gas tax.
At a press conference in Daytona Beach’s 104-pump Buc-ee’s gas station, Gov. DeSantis blamed inflation for the spike, saying the worst hit victims of increased cost of living are working-class families and retirees on a fixed income.
“Gas prices have been rising due to inflationary pressures from bad federal policies, so we here in Florida need to step up and provide relief to our citizens,” the governor said.
“What we’re going to be proposing in the next legislative session is over a billion dollars in gas tax relief for Florida families,” DeSantis announced. “We’re taking over 25 cents from Florida and we’ll basically zero that out as long as we can.”
“We can absorb that 25 cents a gallon for a period of time,” state Sen. Tom Wright, who serves as vice chair of Florida’s commerce and tourism committee, said at the event. “I don’t see why we as the Legislature wouldn’t approve that.”
“Inflation is real. It’s here. There’s no question about it,” Texas-based Buc-ee’s Co-founder Arch “Beaver” Aplin said at the event. “Gas is one of those big ticket items that hits everybody.”
The price of gas in Florida is at its highest since October 2014, when Barack Hussein Obama and Joe Robinette Biden occupied the Oval Office.
Last month, Florida’s gas price per gallon averaged $3.14, and this month it rose to $3.35, shocking most residents who had access to fuel priced over one dollar less only a year ago.
With his upcoming reelection next year as Florida leads the country in pandemic recovery, COVID response, and high energy policy making, Gov. DeSantis has just added fuel to the fire of Republican dominance in the Sunshine State.