If allowed to go forward, the increase would take the gas tax from 26 to 28 cents at a time when prices at the pump are soaring to record levels. Beshear says Kentuckians can’t afford the increase and he’s trying to ease the burden in the coming months.
"The timing we've laid out means we're trying to get this to the next session of the General Assembly, where they can take a look and at that point it will be up to them from a policymaking standpoint," the governor told reporters Thursday.
Increases in the gas tax are set by statute and the money from the tax is funneled into the Road Fund. Beshear wants to use dollars from the upcoming General Fund budget surplus to offset losses from the gas tax freeze.
Locking in the rate will save Kentuckians an estimated $35.4 million through mid-January of 2023, the governor said.
