Nancy Pelosi Shoots Down Gas Tax Holiday, Suggests Rebates And Gas Cards Instead

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) shot down the idea of a federal gas tax holiday, but said she was instead considering giving consumers rebates or gas cards to offer relief for soaring gas prices.

During her weekly press briefing, Pelosi was asked by a reporter whether she supported giving gas rebates to consumers. Pelosi explained that the concept had been floated only after the idea of a gas tax holiday had been proposed and rejected.

“First of all, the main question had been, ‘Do you support a gas tax holiday?’ And that is immediate, and it has appeal,” Pelosi said. “People understand it. ‘There’s going to be a reduction in the gas tax.’ That’s the pro. The con is that the oil companies do not necessarily pass that on to the consumer. They haven’t in the past. And so we’re losing the money in the Highway Trust Fund, because we’ve just taken that out, it goes to the oil companies, you cannot write a law that requires them to pass it on. That’s just the way it is, I — we’ve tried every which way. You could have moral [persuasion], you could encourage, you could incentivize, you cannot require it. So we have a situation where there’s money coming out of the Highway Trust Fund, it’s going to the oil companies, they may not give it to the consumer, and it has to be paid for. So we’re paying for something to give a break to the oil companies, that isn’t even going to the consumer. So that’s the con.”- READ MORE