Antonio Statement on Gas Tax Holiday Legislation

Today, Senate Democratic Leader Nickie J. Antonio (D-Lakewood) issued the following statement after the Ohio Senate passed House Bill 519, a bill that was amended at the last minute to include language from Senate Bill 475 temporarily suspending the state’s gas tax on gasoline and diesel.

Families in Ohio have been feeling the impact of high costs for months, but Republicans decided to address this emergency when it was clear their unpopular gubernatorial candidate had low poll numbers, said Antonio. Creating an affordable Ohio starts with ending President Trump’s reckless war with Iran. We could be doing so much more to address affordability, but the Republican majority failed to prioritize people over politics.

This action today to force the Ohio Legislature to assemble for such a blatantly political action- where the President calls, presides, drafts, and proposes legislation that will perhaps affect his favorability as a candidate is unprecedented and could be seen as an abuse of power, the likes of which we have not seen before. We know constituents will find this gas tax savings a short-term help and better than nothing. I also believe they will not be fooled by this band-aid fix that we all know is a political attempt to sway voters towards their candidate.

In an unprecedented move, Republicans blocked Democrats from speaking to the bill or allowing them to offer prepared amendments that addressed the affordability crisis and would have taken meaningful action to help Ohioans, including providing mortgage and utility assistance; reducing fees for EV owners; urging Congress to end the war in Iran; appropriating funds for food banks; providing free breakfast and lunch to K-12 students; expanding access to childcare voucher programs; and using the allocated Browns stadium funding to cover the cost of the gas tax holiday.

House Bill 519 now heads to the Ohio House for concurrence.