The state of Illinois received a tax windfall from rising gasoline prices, Rep. Mark Batinick said. | Yassine Khalfalli/Unsplash
The state of Illinois received a tax windfall from rising gasoline prices, Rep. Mark Batinick said. | Yassine Khalfalli/Unsplash
State Rep. Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield) criticized the push by Democrats to require gas stations to put stickers on gas pumps.
The stickers will notify Illinoisans that the 2.2-cent gas tax increase scheduled for this July has been postponed to next January, after the election.
"In all honesty, the idea of a sticker is almost like a 'Saturday Night Live' skit to me in this sense," Batinick said in a video on YouTube. "There is an extra $400 to $500 million in this budget because of the spike in gas taxes. That spike in gas taxes is disproportionately hurting middle-class and poor people. More importantly, or as importantly, it's really disproportionately hurting rural people ... They don't have subsidized transportation."
The state has experienced a revenue windfall from rising fuel prices, the legislator said.
"And, it is unfortunate that this body feels the need to hold onto that money and not take an extra 2.2 cents," he said in the video. "There's an easy fix that was brought up on our side a long time ago. I was shocked that it wasn't passed in a bipartisan manner. That's extremely frustrating, and I hope you guys understand that when people in rural areas get frustrated by the policies being dictated to them by Chicago, this is a real-world, tangible example where somebody has to spend as much as an hour or two of their wages just to get to their job."
Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) doubled Illinois' gas tax from 19 cents to 38 cents in 2019, according to Fox 32. Pritzker also instituted an annual gas tax increase.
Democrats recently passed legislation that will postpone this year's scheduled gas tax increase of 2.2 cents from July to January 2023. The bill will require gas stations to put stickers on their pumps, notifying Illinoisans of the postponement. Gas stations will be fined $500 dollars per day if they refuse to display the stickers, Fox 32 reported.
Josh Sharp of the Illinois Fuel and Retail Association called the mandatory stickers "free election-year advertising for the governor."
Rep. Batinick in mid-March filed HB 5723, which would have capped Illinois' gas tax at 18 cents per gallon. Many House Republicans, including Reps. Chris Miller, Amy Grant, Seth Lewis, Brad Halbrook, and Martin McLaughlin, signed on as co-sponsors.
The average price of a gallon of regular gas in Illinois was $4.32 as of April 13, according to AAA, up from $3.06 one year ago. Gas prices in the Chicago metro area average $4.46 per gallon.
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