NC lawmakers propose gas tax rebate for drivers due to spike in fuel prices
The spike in gas is hurting everyone across the country, but for drivers in North Carolina, help could be on the way.
As prices rise at the pump, so do frustrations for drivers like Latrina Gaffney.
“It’s a struggle. I feel like if nothing is going to help us pretty soon, depression,” Gaffney said.
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AAA reports the average price of gas in the Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill area is $4.36 as on June 1. It’s up from $2.85 in June 2021.
State Senate Democrats introduced the “Gas Tax Rebate Act” in May.
Under the bill, adults in North Carolina with a state driver’s license would be eligible for a $200 tax rebate and would get a check or debit card by Oct. 1, 2022.
“I think that’d be a blessing not just for my family, for a lot of families,” Gaffney said. “People are still recovering from the pandemic.”
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“This really a way that the legislators are trying to show you that they’re being responsive to their constituents’ concerns about how high gas prices (are),” explained University of North Carolina-Charlotte political science professor Eric Heberlig.
He said the measure will need majority approval from the Senate and House before getting the governor’s signature.
He believes that is easier said than done.
“It’s co-sponsored by all Democrats. And with the Republicans being a majority in the general assembly, they’re going to prefer to do something that they sponsor and they take credit,” Heberlig said.
Channel 9 reached out to Republican state Sen. Phil Berger.
Berger’s spokesperson, Lauren Horsch, released the following statement: “A one-time rebate that doesn’t cover the average additional monthly cost of Biden’s inflation is nothing more than a Band-Aid. If we want to help North Carolinians afford their everyday expenses, we should focus on real long-term, permanent tax relief and getting inflation under control.”
Davis Greene of Charlotte told Channel 9 he sees it the same way.
“I think it would help for a minute, but with the prices so high, it’s not going to really do that big of an impact,” Greene said.
Gaffney thinks otherwise. She believes every penny would be much-needed relief.
“This will help us by giving us that break,” she said. “$200 back in your pocket.”
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