Sen. Don DeWitte | Facebook
Sen. Don DeWitte | Facebook
During a news conference in Illinois Capitol Building in Springfield on March 10, Sen. Don DeWitte (R-West Dundee) joined Republican colleagues in introducing Senate Bill 4195, a proposal that Republicans say has the potential to save consumers as much as $1 billion.
Senate Bill 4195 would cap the state’s sales tax on motor fuel at 18 cents per gallon, which is what consumers were paying last fall before prices started to climb dramatically.
"As my colleague, Sen. (Dave) Severson (R-Rockford) said, gas prices are increasing very quickly to the point where it's only a matter of time until we will be seeing $5 per gallon gasoline or more across the state of Illinois. Luckily, as state legislators, we have the ability to take swift action to provide real substantive relief for motorists across the state," DeWitte said. "Illinoisans are already reeling from a 40-year high rate of inflation. While we cannot control many aspects of the price of gasoline we do have the authority to enact policies that bring that cost down considerably. Illinoisans need this type of relief and they need it right now. That's why we're asking our colleagues across the aisle and Gov. J.B. Pritzker to fast-track this important legislation that affects every purchaser of gasoline in the state of Illinois, whether they are Republican, Democrat, Independent. There are no partisan politics when it comes to the price of gas."
According to Fox 32, gas prices in Illinois have not been this high since 2008.
In a story on CNBC, Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said, “There are few words to describe the unprecedented rise in gasoline prices over the last week, with massive spikes coast to coast in both gasoline and diesel prices, as oil prices jump to their highest since 2008.”
De Haan further stated, “Forget the $4 per gallon mark, the nation will soon set new all-time record highs and we could push closer to a national average of $4.50.”
As of March 7, the average price of gasoline in the state of Illinois was $4.30. In Cook County it is $4.50.
Prices are up more than $1.30 since one year ago.
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