ATLANTA — In the 10 days since the United States and Israel launched attacks in Iran, gas prices have surged upward.
Georgia Democratic State Sen. Nikki Merritt is urging Gov. Brian Kemp to once again suspend the gas tax, saying Georgia families need relief from the price increases, but the governor is taking a wait-and-see approach before making a decision.
“I’ve been telling a lot of people it’s good to remember the General Assembly and i came into the session focused on affordability and cost of living and helping Georgians fight through 40-year-high inflation that was quite honestly created by the previous administration,” Kemp said Tuesday.
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Speaking in the Georgia Senate on Monday, Merritt said gas prices are continuing to rise across Georgia, and would continue to do so, as the Iran conflict continues.
“Gas prices rising across Georgia as Middle East tensions push oil prices past $100,” Merritt said Monday, referring back to previous coverage as prices started to soar. “Atlanta gas prices rise amid Iran conflict and they’ll likely rise even more.”
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Before the attack on Iran, inflation reports from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed gas prices falling, putting the overall inflation level at its lowest in close to five years.
Just over two weeks later, Iran was attacked, throwing the Middle East into turmoil and directly impacting gas prices across the globe.
Merritt blamed the increases on President Donald Trump, in contrast to Kemp’s mention that it was the fault of former President Joe Biden’s administration.
“Georgians should not be bearing the cost of poorly planned national policies," Merritt said Monday, asking Kemp to suspend the gas tax and adding “I need my colleagues, because I know y’all coming, stop blaming Biden. Last I checked, Biden was not president. Not only that, President Trump promised to lower costs in the United States and improve our economy.”
Kemp said while the state has used a suspension of the gas tax “very effectively in the past,” it had been “targeted and strategic.”
The governor continued, saying the state had “suspended the gas tax in the past” to help Georgians handle affordability concerns, “but we’ve also not overreacted to things that potentially could be a short-term blip.”
While speaking about the Iran conflict, Kemp said U.S. soldiers were in his prayers and said he believed markets will start to shift in reaction to the change of oil prices.
“I mean oil prices shot up to $115 a barrel, 24, 48 hours ago and now they’re back down to $90,” Kemp said, adding that he thinks U.S. energy policies right now are working and had made the country as a whole energy independent.
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