Indiana spends a lot of time busting Illinois’ chops on the Bears and annexing downstate counties, but sometimes it does something that makes us truly envious.
One such development happened April 8, when Indiana Gov. Mike Braun issued an executive order enacting a 30-day break on the 7% usage tax on fuel, saying, “Affordability is my top priority.” Drivers will still pay the state excise tax of 36 cents per gallon, but it’s a savvy move that will no doubt score points with price-pained Hoosiers.
Braun enacted the holiday via emergency declaration — an unusual step — but one that delivers immediate relief at the pump. It’s also possible he extends the holiday if prices remain high. Of course, Indiana closed fiscal year 2025 with a $676 million surplus and billions in reserves, which makes these sorts of decisions possible.
It’d be nice if Illinois drivers could get such a break.
Gas prices are way up from last year, when the average price finally fell to around $3.40 per gallon statewide. We don’t know when prices will drop meaningfully again. And while President Donald Trump said Thursday of gas prices that “they’re not very high,” as of Friday AAA reported that gas in Chicago is averaging about $4.75 per gallon. For families whose primary method of transportation is on four wheels, that means they’re shelling out close to $100 every time they fill up their minivan or SUV. Hardly cheap. It’s worth noting that gas prices in Indianapolis are nearly a dollar less per gallon than what Chicagoans are paying.
Downstate state Reps. Ryan Spain, R-Peoria, and Regan Deering, R-Decatur, filed a bill on April 2 that would give Illinoisans a six-month holiday — from July 1 through Dec. 31 — on the sales tax applied to gasoline. A House Republican spokesperson told us the Republican bill sponsors are talking with lawmakers across the aisle about the idea and they seem open-minded, pointing out that the longer prices remain high, pressure will build on Illinois Democrats and Gov. JB Pritzker to do something about it. To that end, they’re hoping this relief could be baked into the budget.
Spain and Deering’s plan would require the state to forgo $250 million out of transit funding, which is getting a boost due to a sales tax increase and an interest scrape from the road fund. In the midst of a budget season in which state lawmakers are already crying poor, we’re betting Springfield will want to hold onto every penny. Spain’s bill is stuck in the Rules Committee, where legislation typically goes to fester and die.
Still, relief at the pump is not only a smart political move but also something Illinoisans deserve, especially given our gas prices are higher than our neighbors thanks to multiple layers of taxation. Our state gas tax went up last July to about 48 cents per gallon, and it’s set to go up again this July.
Illinois hasn’t given drivers a true gas tax holiday, only temporary delays of scheduled increases. Gov. JB Pritzker delayed a scheduled tax increase in 2022. That year, as gas prices spiked fast after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine disrupted global oil markets and in the wake of peak COVID-19 inflation, politicians felt pressure to act on relief, and many did. In contrast to Pritzker’s mere freeze of scheduled gas tax hikes, other states such as Connecticut and Maryland offered true tax holidays. These breaks were less about long-term policy and more about political triage during a sudden price spike. We find ourselves in a similar situation again today. Of course, the federal government was disbursing billions in COVID-19 aid to states during 2022, the flow of which has dried up as governments face sober fiscal realities.
Here in Illinois, where we’re more likely to see our taxes go up than down and have far less fiscal cushion than our neighbors to the east, we won’t hold our breath.
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