SPRINGFIELD — State lawmakers have announced a six-month delay of this year's scheduled automatic gas tax increase.

In 2019, the Pritzker-Stratton administration doubled the state's gas tax and permanently tied increases to inflation, allowing taxes to rise automatically each year without lawmakers ever having to cast another vote. This summer, Illinois' state gas tax was scheduled to rise from 48.3 cents to 49.6 cents per gallon on July 1. The increase has now been delayed until December. 

"The fact that Gov. Pritzker and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton suddenly want to postpone their automatic gas tax increase is an admission that the policy is hurting Illinois families," said Republican U.S. Senate candidate Don Tracy.

"Illinois families are struggling with higher grocery bills, higher utility costs, higher housing costs, and some of the highest taxes in America. The Pritzker-Stratton administration knows their automatic gas tax increases make that burden worse.

"Lt. Gov. Stratton helped create a system that allows taxes to go up automatically while elected officials avoid accountability. She’s running on taking her ‘Illinois Blueprint’ to DC. America was founded on ‘No Taxation Without Representation.” The nation will almost certainly reject her bad ideas on tax policy. 

“A six-month delay of a one-cent increase is not meaningful relief for working families. The real problem is that Stratton’s system allows taxes to increase automatically and nobody has to defend those increases to the people paying the bills. 

"Lawmakers should permanently repeal the automatic gas tax escalator and require future tax increases to receive an affirmative vote of elected representatives. Working families deserve reasonable economic policy that helps lower costs, makes government live within its means, and forces elected officials to answer for the decisions they make. No one needs more of these political gimmicks.”

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