NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — On Wednesday, President Biden called on congress for a pause on federal gas tax for three months as he works to ease the financial burden of gas prices on Americans.
But, State Representative “Big” John Illg doesn’t believe this is a good move.
“I think it’s a feel-good measure and it leaves a giant hole in our transportation trust fund,” said the state rep.
Federal taxes are essential for maintaining our roadways. The money goes into a trust fund and nearly 85% of it goes toward our nation’s highways.
“I don’t think anybody at Christmas is going to say Thank God we saved $3 a fill up, when gas is $100 to fill up,” said Rep. Illg. “I think they will remember if a bridge falls down or the potholes or if the roads weren’t drivable.”
The President says he believes the roads will still be able to be fixed while bringing down gas prices.
Connor Upchurch says gas prices are unreasonable.
“When you spend $65 to fill up a Nissan Sentra with a 12-gallon tank, that’s a problem,” said Upchurch.
Professor Walter Lane at the University of New Orleans says economically he doesn’t see it having a huge impact.
“The President is looking for something to do and there’s not much he can do,” said Lane. “This will lower the price, there’s no doubt about it, but 18 cents out of $4.50 is not that big of a deal. I don’t know that it’ll have a lot of effect.”
Biden has also called on the states to put a pause on their gas tax.
As of Wednesday evening, Louisiana has not done that.
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