Even if the federal stimulus checks have ceased, there is still a lot of financial assistance available in the United States this March. Although the COVID-19 pandemic is still there, it no longer poses the same threat as it once did.
As a result, many of the programs now accessible are for more general needs, such as assisting individuals in dealing with rising inflation, rising gas prices, and so on. In this live blog from March 21, we discuss numerous plans to help with rising gas prices, including a projected $400 gas tax rebate and free gas in Illinois.
California Provides $400 Gas Rebate
Many people have called for local state governments to suspend their fuel levies as gas prices have risen. That has now happened in two states, with temporary laws being signed in Georgia and Maryland, as per Marca.
The 29-cent per gallon gas tax in Georgia has been delayed, while the 36-cent per gallon gas tax in Maryland has been lifted for a month. In reaction to historic highs in California gas prices, a group of Democratic state legislators proposed a $400 gas rebate to every taxpayer in the state this week, USA Today reported.
About a dozen Democratic lawmakers, led by Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris, D-Irvine, and Assemblymember Chad Mayes, I-Rancho Mirage, introduced the proposal, which would cost an estimated $9 billion and be paid for with some of the state's multibillion-dollar budget surplus.
The $400 gas rebate would correspond to a one-year gas tax break "for most vehicles." According to AAA, the average price of a gallon of gas in California is by far the highest in the country, at $5.78.
The legislators' proposal comes just a week after Governor Gavin Newsom mentioned a similar initiative in his annual State of the State address, though he offered few details, saying he would work with legislative leaders "to put money back in the pockets of Californians to address rising gas prices."
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Gov. Newsom Urges Tax Incentives for Vehicle Owners
On Thursday, the group of legislators admitted that discussions over how to spend the state's large budget surplus - anticipated to reach north of $30 billion in November - are still ongoing, and that further proposals will be released soon.
The suggestion came as the Legislature's Democratic supermajority has been under increasing pressure to address Californians' soaring gas prices. Republican lawmakers in the California Assembly introduced a bill on Monday to suspend the state's 51-cent-per-gallon gas tax for six months, but the proposal was widely rejected by Democratic lawmakers.
Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom prefers to grant automobile owners tax incentives and delay the state's gas tax's yearly inflation adjustment, although Republicans want the entire 51-cent-per-gallon excise tax to be suspended.
The average price for a gallon of normal gas in California was $5.77 as of March 16. According to Newsweek, the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee questioned oil executives on Wednesday about whether they are "taking advantage" of the conflict in Ukraine to justify higher fuel prices.
Per Newsweek via MSN, Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) addressed a letter to six company executives requesting their testimony in an April 6 hearing, citing worry that the sector was "exploiting" the war to generate profits. Executives from BP, Chevron, Devon Energy Corporation, ExxonMobil, Pioneer Natural Resources, and Shell received his letter.
Pallone claimed that the industry appears to be leveraging the humanitarian and international security crises to forward its domestic exploration and extraction agenda, while erroneously blaming President Joe Biden for the price increase.
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