Kennedy Calls for Summer Suspension of Gas Tax
Result Would Immediately Drop Prices at the Pump 18.4 Cents per Gallon

	Kennedy in the field with farmers

St. Paul, Minnesota, May 2 - Yesterday, Congressman Mark Kennedy wrote a letter to House colleagues asking for support of his Summer Relief for Motorists Act, which would suspend the federal gas tax from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Suspending the 18.4 cents per gallon tax would immediately lower prices at the pump.

Kennedy’s plan would also replace any lost revenue for the Highway Trust Fund by collecting deep-water lease royalty fees that were previously uncollected due to an oversight of the Management and Mineral Service. The $7 billion would bring the past-due accounts of deep-water oil companies up to date and hold the Highway Trust Fund harmless without raising taxes.

“There has been too much grandstanding with politicians holding press events at gas stations and pointing fingers, but not offering any real solutions to the high cost of gas prices,” said Mark Kennedy. “I’m proposing the Summer Relief for Motorist Act to move beyond the partisanship, beyond the politics and beyond the finger-pointing. I’ve proposed a real solution that would immediately lower prices at the pump 18.4 cents per gallon.”

“We can help Minnesota families and small businesses in the short term by suspending the federal gas tax over the summer, while we keep working toward the long term solutions like ethanol, hybrids, and hydrogen energy,” Kennedy concluded.

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