Gas Tax Raising Democrats Back Temporary Gas Tax Measure

ST. PAUL, MN — On Friday, House Democrats announced their plan for a temporary gas tax holiday. Less than one year ago, all five of the House Democrats voted for more than $350 million in permanent gas tax increases — including permanent automatic annual gas tax increases into the future. Three of the five (Lislegard, Wolgamott, and Stephenson) supported a permanent 70% gas tax increase in 2019 that would have cost motorists more than $1.7 billion.

House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt, R-Crown, issued the following statement regarding the proposal:

“Last year when they thought voters weren’t looking, Zack Stephenson, Dave Lislegard, Jessica Hanson, Kaela Berg, and Dan Wolgamott voted to permanently raise gas taxes by more than $350 million, with gas tax increases every single year into the future.

"In 2019, Dave Lislegard, Dan Wolgamott, and Zack Stephenson voted for Gov. Walz's twenty cent gas tax hike — a permanent 70% gas tax increase that would have taken $1.7 billion out of the pockets of Minnesota drivers.

"When it's not an election year, Democrats support billions of dollars in gas tax increases. Now with inflation out of control, and gas and energy prices through the roof in the Walz/Biden economy, they're pushing a desperate and temporary gas tax holiday. Minnesota voters won't be fooled."

The 2021 House Transportation Omnibus bill (HF1684) indexed the gas tax to the Highway Construction Index, resulting in more than $350 million in permanent gas tax increases over four years, as well as permanent annual increases tied to the index every year after that. The roll call can be found in the 2021-2022 biennium House Journal on page 5342.

The 2019 House Transportation Omnibus bill (HF1555) would have permanently raised the gas tax by 20 cents/gallon — a 70 % increase, at a cost of $1.7 billion to drivers once fully phased in. The roll call can be found in the 2019-2020 biennium House Journal on page 4873.