What happened
Georgia's Democratic gubernatorial nominee, Keisha Lance Bottoms, has urged Governor Brian Kemp to suspend the state's fuel excise tax again to help reduce the cost of diesel fuel. This comes as diesel prices continue to rise, with the average price in Georgia currently standing at over $6 per gallon, more than $3 higher than the same time last year.
Bottoms has been pushing for another suspension of the tax since it expired in May, after being initially signed into effect by Kemp in March and then extended. The expiration of the tax suspension led to an increase in gas prices by $0.33 per gallon and diesel prices by $0.37 per gallon.
According to Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, the rise in diesel prices can be attributed to a combination of factors, including the war in the Middle East and the producer ban of diesel exports from Russia. De Haan explained that the tightening of global supply, coupled with the shutdown of the Strait and the peak in demand during the summer, has led to the current high prices.
The call for a tax suspension has become a point of contention between Bottoms and her Republican rival, Rick Jackson, who has proposed a mechanism to suspend the gas tax in the event of a significant price increase due to a war or natural disaster.
