Republican candidate for governor Vivek Ramaswamy has unveiled some details about his plan for a temporary suspension of Ohio's gas tax, a proposal he announced a few hours after Democratic candidate for governor Amy Acton called for a gas tax holiday Monday.
Ramaswamy and leaders of the GOP-led legislature said lawmakers will come back from an election-year break on Sept. 30 to vote on a 90-day gas tax suspension, which is estimated to cost between $640 million and $700 million in lost revenue. Some lawmakers are saying the idea is a good response to constituents and others are calling it political theater, but nearly all say some relief is needed.
Rep. Ty Mathews (R-Findlay) proposed a similar gas tax suspension in May. He’s “a little disappointed” that House Bill 850 isn’t moving forward. But he said he supports this version because lawmakers are hearing about high gas prices on the campaign trail.
“I believe that’s why we are acting on it, that people are being heard and I’m glad that we are moving on it," Mathews said in an interview.
The bill that legislative leaders hope to pass next week would eliminate Ohio’s 38.5-cent gas tax and 47-cent tax on diesel for 90 days. But it could leave the state with a revenue hole that exceeds $600 million, according to Huffman. The bill would use unspent Ohio Department of Transportation money, general revenue funds and the state's rainy day fund if needed. Ramaswamy has also said Medicaid fraud dollars returned to Ohio could be used to plug the revenue hole.
While gas prices have been near records this summer, they were higher when Mathews introduced his bill. AAA said the average gas price in May was $4.89 a gallon. Diesel averaged $6.13 per gallon. Ramaswamy said the high price of diesel is tricking down to other rising costs, such as for food.
"If we address the root causes of those price increases, for example, diesel costs, that's at least 1% of the cost," Ramaswamy said. "So if you add those indirect costs even over 90 days, now you're talking about well over a couple hundred bucks for a family, and you're talking about approaching $2,000 per independent diesel truck driver."
Ramaswamy noted it would also help Ohio farmers who don't pay state motor fuel tax on dyed diesel used for off-road farming equipment, but they do pay tax on undyed diesel used on public highways. Farmers at the Farm Science Review in London this week said diesel fuel costs are making it much harder for them, especially now at harvest time.
Ramaswamy's running mate is Senate President Rob McColley (R-Napoleon), who stood alongside Ramaswamy and House Speaker Matt Huffman at a press conference Wednesday morning at the Ohio Chamber of Commerce. Rep. Andrea White (R-Kettering) was invited to speak at the event.
“This summer, as I've been back in my community, walking in the neighborhoods and going to meetings and knocking on thousands of doors, when I ask people, what can I do as your state representative, what are the issues that you care about? What they say to me more than anything else is can you lower the price of my food and gas," White said.
Policy or politics or both?
White and Thomas are both incumbents but are running in districts that are considered leaning toward Democrats.
Democrats said they're not opposed to providing gas tax relief. But House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn (D-Cincinnati) has proposed another way to make up the revenue.
"It should be paid for in a way that is responsible, that does not endanger the safety of Ohio drivers on roads and bridges. And to do that, we are calling for the money to come from the $600 million of Ohio's unclaimed funds that the Republican legislature has tried to allocate to the billionaire Haslam family for a privately owned sports stadium," said Isaacsohn in an interview.
In last year's budget, Republican lawmakers approved using $600 million in unclaimed funds for a new domed stadium project for the Cleveland Browns in Brook Park. That's still being challenged in court. Isaacsohn said Ohioans are tired of “sweetheart deals” that benefit billionaires, and that since this would draw money for the public good, it would likely be deemed legal.
Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) said she will be happy to consider gas tax relief for Ohioans but she questioned the timing of this.
“Two weeks ago, we had legislative sessions listed on our calendars if needed. They were taken off. The Republican leadership said, we don't need to come back to session until after the election,” Antonio said in an interview. “I believe they got some polling numbers this past week, and then suddenly they went into action. I believe this is a 'hail Mary' pass on their part, in terms of trying to get their candidate elected when he's down in the polling.”
But some Republicans including outgoing Sen. Andrew Brenner (R-Delaware), said they think it’s a matter of their candidate getting the job done.
“Republicans in Ohio, where we can take action, are trying to take action,” Brenner said.
Huffman said he knows Democratic support will be needed to get the 66 House votes to pass the gas tax suspension as emergency legislation.
"We will have a vote when we call session. This is not going to be 'well, I'm going to put it up on the floor if we have the votes,' because sometimes folks tell me I just can't vote for it, and we put it up and they vote for it," Huffman said. "That's just the nature of the human beast, if you will."
A total of 22 votes are needed to pass it as emergency legislation in the Senate. There are 24 Republicans in that chamber.
