Maya MacGuineas: Say no to a gas tax holiday

Maya MacGuineas is president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and head of the Campaign to Fix the Debt. She recently wrote an opinion piece for The Hill, an excerpt of which is below. 

With inflation at a 40-year high, some policymakers have called for suspending the federal gas tax through the end of the year. While this might provide a small amount of temporary relief at the pump, it’s not a solution to rising prices. It’s not even a band-aid; unlike a band-aid, it would actually make things worse.

A gas tax holiday would exacerbate inflationary pressures and slow a needed transition to more energy-efficient and climate-friendly technologies, while cutting off a key source of infrastructure funding. It’s a way for politicians to pretend they are making the situation better, when in fact they are making it worse.    

Read the entire piece here

Published works by members or staff of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget do not necessarily reflect the views of all members or staff of the Committee.