Sponsors (2)
The bill gives households temporary relief at the pump by suspending the fuel excise tax and backfilling trust funds from the general fund, trading a near‑term cut in consumer fuel costs for increased federal spending, enforcement complexity, and potential long‑term risks to dedicated transportation funding.
Drivers and consumers (including middle‑class and low‑income households) pay lower pump prices while the federal motor fuel excise tax is suspended through Oct 1, 2026.
The Highway Trust Fund and Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) Trust Fund are backfilled from the general fund to replace lost excise revenue, protecting highway projects and cleanup funding in the near term.
Consumers gain a statutory enforcement mechanism requiring sellers to pass the tax savings to buyers, with Treasury authorized to impose monetary penalties to help ensure reductions reach consumers.
All federal taxpayers effectively pay for the temporary tax suspension because general‑fund transfers replace excise receipts, increasing federal outlays and potential deficit pressure.
Suspending the dedicated user fee reduces the price signal for roadway funding and could create solvency problems for the Highway Trust Fund if general‑fund backfills stop after Oct 1, 2026.
Enforcing pass‑through obligations is administratively complex—proving under‑passed amounts and policing retail pricing could delay or dilute the consumer benefit.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Temporarily sets the federal gasoline excise tax to zero through Sept 30, 2026, suspends the related LUST rate, and requires Treasury to backfill trust fund receipts from the general fund.
Introduced March 9, 2026 by Mark Edward Kelly · Last progress March 9, 2026
Temporarily sets the federal excise tax on gasoline to zero for gasoline removed, entered, or sold from the date of enactment through September 30, 2026, and suspends the related Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) financing rate for that gasoline. The Treasury must transfer amounts from the general fund to replace lost Highway Trust Fund and LUST Trust Fund revenue, and the Secretary is authorized to require fuel sellers to pass the tax reduction to consumers and to enforce that requirement with monetary penalties at least equal to any unpassed-through amount.