Note: On Oct. 6 Gov. Kemp renewed the state gas tax suspension through Nov. 11.
What happened: Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) issued an executive order suspending the state’s 31.2 cents per gallon gas tax from Sept. 13 through Oct. 12, 2023. The governor cited high inflation and negative economic conditions as cause for the state of emergency order.
Why it matters: This is the third time Kemp has suspended the state’s gas tax. Prior instances include a one-month suspension of the then-28.7 cents-per-gallon tax during the Colonial Pipeline cyber-attack (May 2021), and a 10-month suspension (March 2022-January 2023) of the then-29.1 cents-per-gallon tax during the COVID-19 pandemic emergency. The 2022 suspension was initially approved by the state legislature as a one-month holiday but was repeatedly renewed by the governor, forcing the state to forego $160 million in transportation revenue each month.
What’s next: The state legislature has backfilled the transportation fund’s lost revenue from the general fund after all previous suspensions and is expected to do so again. However additional renewals of the suspension are possible.