Sponsors (2)
The bill lowers retail gasoline prices for consumers in the near term while preserving transportation and environmental trust fund receipts via general‑fund transfers — at the cost of higher federal outlays, weakened user-fee funding incentives for transportation over the long term, and compliance/enforcement risks.
Drivers, commuters, and households see lower retail gasoline prices while the federal excise tax is suspended through Sept 30, 2026.
Consumers (drivers and households) are protected from price-gouging because fuel producers and dealers are required to reduce retail prices to reflect the tax cut and face monetary penalties for failing to pass it through.
The Highway Trust Fund continues receiving the expected revenues because Treasury must transfer amounts from the general fund equal to the lost excise tax receipts, maintaining planned transportation funding in the short term.
Taxpayers and the federal budget face higher general fund outlays because Treasury must replace lost excise receipts with transfers, which could increase deficits or crowd out other spending.
Transportation funding stability could be weakened long-term because replacing user-fee financing with general fund transfers breaks the direct link between gasoline consumption and Highway Trust Fund revenue.
Consumers may not immediately see full price reductions if enforcement and pass-through are delayed or imperfect, reducing the practical benefit to middle- and low-income households.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Temporarily suspends the federal gasoline excise tax and LUST surcharge through Sept 30, 2026, and directs Treasury to reimburse affected trust funds from the general fund.
Official title: Amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a gasoline tax holiday.
Introduced March 9, 2026 by Mark Edward Kelly · Last progress March 9, 2026
Suspends the federal gasoline excise tax rate and the Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) financing surcharge for gasoline sold, removed, or entered from enactment through September 30, 2026, making the federal tax rate effectively zero for that period. It requires the Treasury to transfer amounts from the general fund to the Highway Trust Fund and the LUST Trust Fund equal to the revenue those funds would have otherwise received, sets a congressional policy that price reductions should be passed to consumers immediately, and authorizes penalties and Treasury enforcement if refiners, distributors, or dealers fail to pass through the tax savings.