Gas prices are no longer climbing as fast as they were a few weeks ago, but they remain much higher than they were last summer — a fact that is sharpening the debate over gas taxes.

AAA put the national average for regular gasoline at $4.26 per gallon on June 3, down from $4.46 a week earlier. Still, that is more than a dollar above the year-ago average of $3.14. For drivers, the distinction between crude prices, refining costs and taxes may matter less than the number at the pump. For lawmakers, it matters a great deal.

Efforts to lower pump prices by temporarily cutting gas taxes have resurfaced in Washington and several states, but the federal push remains unresolved. President Donald Trump has backed a pause in the federal fuel tax, and lawmakers in both parties have floated bills to suspend the tax temporarily, including proposals tied to elevated fuel prices following instability in the Middle East. But the idea still needs congressional approval, and it faces the same objections that have stalled past gas-tax holidays, which include a multibillion-dollar hit to the Highway Trust Fund (HTF). The Penn Wharton Budget Model estimated that a four-month federal suspension from June 1 to October 1 would cost the fund about $11.5 billion. The Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank that promotes collaboration between the Republican and Democratic parties, separately estimated that a five-month suspension would reduce gas-tax revenue by approximately $17 billion, or 46% of the fund's projected fiscal year 2026 gas-and-diesel tax revenue.

That potential revenue drop matters. The HTF’s finances are increasingly strained because collections have failed to keep pace with infrastructure needs and shifting driving habits. That has made the gas tax debate about more than pump prices—it is also a fight over how to fund roads, bridges, and other transportation projects.

The Gas Tax and What It’s Used For

The fight over the gas tax is not new—it has been around for nearly 100 years. President Herbert Hoover signed the Revenue Act of 1932, authorizing the first federal gasoline tax—one cent per gallon, at a time when gas averaged about ten cents per gallon. It wasn’t........

© Forbes