From DailyMail.co.uk…
With the price of gas rising across the U.S., lawmakers are developing a string of proposals to help motorists – from $400 rebates for all taxpayers in California to imposing windfall taxes on oil companies or a sliding scale of payments that could net families as much as $300 every month.
The average cost of a gallon has raced past $4 a gallon amid domestic inflation and the impact of Vladimir Putin‘s war in Ukraine.
This week, the average price of a gallon of regular gas in Los Angeles hit a record $6.011, even as the national average continued to decline slightly from the all-time high earlier this month, according to the AAA Gas Price Index.
An opinion poll published Wednesday found that almost three quarters of voters were in favor of a holiday from federal energy taxes to ease the burden.
And lawmakers across the country are pushing legislation to bring down prices at the pumps.
A new bill proposed by three Democrats – Reps. Mike Thompson of California, John Larson of Connecticut and Lauren Underwood of Illinois – could be worth $300 each month to some families if the price of a gallon stays above $4.
‘Americans are feeling the impact at the pump of Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, and right now we must work together on commonsense policy solutions to ease the financial burden that my constituents are feeling,’ Thompson said in a news release.
‘The Putin Price Hike is putting strain on our economy, and I am proud to be working with Reps. Larson and Underwood to introduce this legislation to provide middle-class Americans with monthly payments to ease the financial burden of this global crises.’
Their plan follows the model of COVID economic impact payments – offering $100 for single filers earning less than $75,000, plus $100 for each dependent.
It is just one of a series of proposals unveiled recently.
In California, Democratic lawmakers want a $400 rebate for taxpayers – costing about $9 billion drawn from the state’s budget surplus and equivalent to the average gas tax paid by residents over a year.
