Democrats revive call for DeSantis to suspend Florida’s gas tax

State Sen. Tina Polsky, a Democrat from Boca Raton who is exiting the Legislature in November, has revived a remote call for the state to suspend its gas tax.

Read more Florida may require religious exemption for school employee head coverings

“Florida can’t control every factor that drives gas prices — global oil markets, refinery capacity, geopolitical shocks. But Florida can control the taxes it charges at the pump,” Polsky wrote in an op-ed.

An average gallon of gas was $4.20 Thursday according to AAA, more than $1 higher than prior to the start of the latest military conflict with Iran at the end of February. Meanwhile, diesel on Thursday slipped under $6 a gallon for the first time in just over three weeks.

The state motor fuel tax is 22 cents a gallon on both gas and diesel. Additional rates vary by county.

Democrats initially proposed a temporary suspension of the gas tax in May, when the average was also above $4 a gallon.

Read more DOH moves on vaccines repeal, but backs off exemption expansion

At the time, Gov. Ron DeSantis said he’d sign a tax package that included a reduction in the state’s 22-cents-per-gallon gas tax. But he questioned its effectiveness in providing relief for Floridians’ finances.

“When we did that last time, I think the Legislature was less than impressed on the results,” DeSantis said during a May 22 bill signing event in Jacksonville.

DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Legislature last suspended the gas tax in October 2022.

Polsky noted that the 2022 discount period was “timed perfectly to land just before a November election in which Gov. DeSantis himself was on the ballot.”

Read more Voter guide: Everything South Florida needs to know about voting in November