BOSTON (WHDH) - Boston residents said they need a break from ‘unspeakable’ gas prices, but an expert said President Joe Biden’s plan for a three-month gas tax holiday won’t provide much relief.
In Charlestown, people getting gas said the prices of nearly $5 a gallon are affecting their daily lives, and that the tax holiday would be welcome.
“It’s just unspeakable,” said Shobricka Ward. “[The holiday] definitely needs to happen because a lot of people are struggling, people have to get to work.”
Biden’s plan would eliminate the federal tax of 18.4 cents per gallon for three months, as well as the federal tax of 24 cents per gallon for diesel. Massachusetts’ state gas tax of 24 cents per gallon would remain, although Biden has asked states to create their own gas tax holidays and Gov. Charlie Baker said he supports a holiday.
Gas taxes fund critical federal highway and road construction, but Biden said suspending the taxes would not affect those projects. But Jay Zagorksy, a senior lecturer at the Questrom School of Business at Boston University, said the holiday wouldn’t help the average driver either.
“I don’t expect to people to see any real relief at the pump,” Zagorsky said. “The typical driver uses one gallon of gasoline per day, that’s only an 18 and a half cent savings each day. Over a 90-day gasoline holiday, that’s about 16 dollars, the cost of a large pizza.”
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