Adam Mathews | Opinion contributor
When I head back to Columbus on Sept. 30, I’ll cast one of the easiest votes of my time in the Ohio House: yes to suspending Ohio’s gas tax for 90 days. And it’s thanks to leadership from Vivek Ramaswamy, working with his running mate and Senate President Rob McColley, and Speaker Matt Huffman.
Every family in Southwest Ohio has felt the pain at the gas pump. Gas has lingered around $4.50 a gallon, and diesel has pushed toward $7. The large numbers hovering along the interstate affect the commute down 71 and 75, the drive to practice, the trip to see Grandma. Further, diesel moves nearly everything we buy, causing inflation in what we pay at the grocery store, at the hardware store, and on the farm, right in the middle of harvest.
Suspending the state’s 38.5-cent tax on gasoline and 47-cent tax on diesel puts real money back in the pockets of working Ohioans when they need it most. For families, it’s breathing room. For an independent trucker, the savings over 90 days approach $2,000.
Relief at the pump can’t come at the expense of our roads
Relief also must protect the roads we drive on. The gas tax funds ODOT, and more than a third of it flows to our cities, counties and townships. That’s how Lebanon paves its streets, how our townships plow their roads and how Ohio draws down federal highway dollars. Simply shutting off that spigot would shift the bill to local governments, stall construction and leave us short when the first snow falls.
That’s why this plan pairs relief at the pump with a responsible backfill, drawing the money that we, as good stewards of taxpayer dollars, have accrued. Every time we have cut taxes, we have actually received more revenue because people benefit from government getting off their backs. Actual payments will continue to follow the complete existing formulas, protecting federal matching funds, construction commitments and winter maintenance. Your township trustees won’t be left holding the bag. Even the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, long skeptical of gas tax holidays, said the backfill answers its concerns.
That’s what leadership looks like: See a problem, write a plan, count the cost and work with the legislature to pass it.
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