Rep. Sims Votes No on Gas Tax Holiday, Ohioans Deserve More

COLUMBUS — State Rep. Veronica Sims (D-Akron) today refused to support a 90-day gas tax holiday, saying Ohioans absolutely need relief at the pump, but the Republican proposal for a temporary gas tax holiday does not address the broader affordability crisis facing Ohio families. For a family already struggling to pay for health care, child care, groceries, housing and utility bills, $725 million could provide more targeted assistance that reaches Ohioans across their household budgets. Affordability issues do not stop at the gas pump. 

“Hardworking Ohioans deserve more than crumbs from the plate of prosperity. We could have and should have done so much more. The people need real, comprehensive, meaningful relief—not bare minimum action on the whim of a candidate who is not our Governor,” said Rep. Sims. “It should not take an approaching election for the majority of this legislative body to realize that Ohioans are struggling and have been for months.

Ohio’s affordability crisis did not begin five weeks before an election. Gas prices reached an average of $4.83 per gallon in May, yet Republicans did not move forward with a gas tax holiday until now, when suspension of the gas tax became politically convenient. So, Republican legislative leaders stood with their candidate for Governor at a press conference and threw up a hail Mary scheme hoping to save his candidacy. Ohioans aren’t buying it.

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, barred from consideration by Republicans, would have used the $1 billion previously allocated for sports stadiums to include a $150 residential energy rebate, stronger enforcement to make sure gas tax savings reach consumers, and expanded homestead property tax relief.

The question is not whether Ohioans deserve gas tax relief. They do. It’s whether $725 million in state resources should be spent on a temporary benefit that addresses only one part of the cost-of-living crisis. Gas is a volatile commodity subject to many factors that can cause its price to fluctuate widely. The state fuel tax is a small component of that. The main culprit for today’s high prices is the continuation of the failed war in the middle east. Gas prices will be back up again if that war doesn’t conclude soon, and there won’t be anything else state lawmakers can do about it. We called for an amendment to be added that would’ve urged the President to put a stop to the war in Iran, but the Republican majority did not allow it.

Throughout this General Assembly, Ohio House Democrats have introduced legislation addressing health care, child care, housing, utilities, property taxes and other costs that are squeezing Ohio families. Democrats remain willing to work with anyone to deliver meaningful relief, but Ohioans deserve a plan that does more than provide the bare minimum of temporary relief for a singular factor impacting a household budget. If we are willing to call an emergency session to address affordability, then we should treat the entire cost-of-living crisis with that same urgency.