Minority Leader Isaacsohn Supports Tax Holiday, Ohioans Need More Than 90 Days of Relief

COLUMBUS — Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn (D-Cincinnati) today voted in favor of a 90-day gas tax holiday to provide immediate relief to Ohio drivers facing high prices at the pump.

The legislation temporarily reduces Ohio’s motor fuel tax and uses state General Revenue Fund (GRF) dollars to replace road maintenance and construction revenue that would otherwise be collected during the tax holiday. 

“Republicans should be embarrassed that it took them until September 30th to realize that there is a cost-of-living emergency in Ohio. And more so, that it took Dr. Acton proposing an idea and Vivek Ramaswamy being down in the polls for them to actually do something with less than 5 weeks to go before an election. This is a temporary Band-Aid that does not do nearly enough to address the affordability crisis Ohioans are facing on their utility bills, property taxes, and so much more,” said Leader Isaacsohn. “Democrats refuse to play politics with people's lives, so we gave this the votes to pass today so that Ohioans can get the paltry relief Republicans were proposing, but Ohioans deserve so much more than the $3/week they got today. We should have used the $600M that has been allocated to the billionaire Haslem family to provide real relief for Ohioans, but yet again the Republican legislature chose billionaires over people.”

For Ohio families, the cost of living does not begin and end at the gas pump. Housing, utility bills, health care, child care, groceries and property taxes all determine how much money families have left at the end of the month. For families who are choosing between filling up the tank and paying another bill, immediate relief matters. But the high cost of living stretches far beyond the gas pump.

Ohio’s affordability crisis didn't start five weeks before an election. Ohioans have struggled with high gas prices, utility bills, housing costs and health care expenses for years. Gas prices peaked at an average of $4.83 in May, as the busy travel season began.  But Republicans ignored the struggle until it was politically expedient, that is, when they realized weeks before election day that their gubernatorial candidate was behind in the polls.

Ohio House Democrats offered an alternative plan that would have provided immediate gas tax relief while making the state's resources go further for Ohio families. That proposal would have used the $1 billion previously allocated for the owners of the Cleveland Browns stadium, and would have included a $150 residential energy rebate, strong enforcement to ensure  gas tax savings reach consumers, and expanded homestead property tax relief. The plan was ignored by House Republicans.

Leader Isaacsohn said today's vote is part of the broader fight for affordability that Ohio House Democrats have been pursuing throughout the last few years. The gas tax holiday provides needed temporary relief for motorists, but Ohio families continue to face higher costs for housing, groceries, health care, and utilities especially going into winter and the holiday season.