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Georgia Gov. Bryan Kemp suspended gas and diesel taxes through Oct. 12. The Associated Press reports this saves Georgians 31.2 cents on one gallon of gasoline.
Georgia Gov. Bryan Kemp suspended gas and diesel taxes through Oct. 12. The Associated Press reports this saves Georgians 31.2 cents on one gallon of gasoline.
Luke Soule

Georgia, flush with cash, lowers cost of gas

Gov. Kemp again signs executive order suspending gas taxes, citing a “state of emergency for inflation”
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On Tuesday, Sept. 12, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp announced a suspension of taxes on gas, which would go into effect on Sept. 13 and continue until Oct. 12. Kemp announced a state of emergency for Georgia, citing the recent high inflation, allowing him to pass an Executive Order to suspend the tax. Georgia had already previously been in a state of emergency in preparation for Hurricane Idalia.

According to Kemp’s press release, the “suspension of the excise tax will save Georgians 31.2 cents per gallon of gasoline and 35 cents per gallon of diesel fuel. When the gas tax was suspended from March through December of last year, 2022, Georgians saved roughly $1.7 billion at the pump.”

The press release references the last time Gov. Kemp suspended the gas tax, and how that tax suspension benefitted Georgians. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution in a Sept. 12 article points out “the suspension… saves drivers — $150 million to $180 million a month.”

English teacher Shannon Patterson knows exactly how she’ll use that extra money.

“It’d be great to have extra money for use at the grocery store. That’ll be a huge savings for me that I can use for groceries to feed my family,” Patterson said.

Senior Catherine Amendola is indifferent towards the change.

“If you have a car that takes up a lot of gas then I guess that’s good, but my car’s tiny,” Amendola said.

While cutting the tax means lost revenue for Georgia funds, the AJC reports in the article “Kemp suspends Georgia’s fuel tax again, saving drivers at the pump” that surplus Georgia funds will be more than enough to cover the cut, which goes towards transportation expenditures such as “roads and other transportation projects.”

According to the Associated Press, Georgians don’t have to fear a loss of tax revenue affecting road maintenance or other transportation-related items in the state’s budget.

“Not only is its rainy day account full, but it has roughly $10 billion in additional surplus cash in state accounts. The state is also likely to run another multibillion dollar surplus in the budget year that began July 1,” according to that article.

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About the Contributor
Luke Soule
Luke Soule, Multimedia Editor
Multimedia editor Luke Soule is a senior at McIntosh High School and has returned for his second year on the McIntosh Trail. Soule received an all-georgia and superior award during his first year on the staff as a writer and specializes in writing about film, music and environmental issues. He is also an editor for the Mischief Literary Magazine. Soule enjoys writing poetry and stories and has written multiple screenplays. Music and film are big parts of Soule’s life. He taught himself to play guitar and currently takes music theory and piano lessons. His favorite artists are Death Grips, Gregory Alan Isakov and Hugh Masekela. He also began writing screenplays at the age of 13. His favorite movies are The Master, Swiss Army Man and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. He frequently volunteers at the Fayette Humane Society and Clothes Less Traveled.
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