Maryland Republicans Push 30-Day Gas Tax Pause; Moore Administration Offers Cool Response

Gas prices at Baltimore stations have jumped nearly 92 cents per gallon since the Iran conflict began Feb. 28, and Maryland Republicans want to give drivers a temporary break from the state's 46-cent-per-gallon tax. The joint Republican Caucus announced emergency legislation Thursday at the Senate Miller Building in Annapolis to suspend the tax for 30 days, but the Moore administration moved quickly to reject the idea on fiscal and political grounds.

House Republican Leader Jason Buckel of Allegany County, Senate Republican Leader Stephen Hershey, House Republican Whip Jesse Pippy, and Senate Minority Whip Justin Ready all stood behind the proposal. The AAA pegged the Maryland average at $3.82 on Thursday and $3.83 by Friday, just below a national average that Fox45 reported at $3.91. Before U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, the national average sat at $2.98; by March 16 it had climbed to $3.72, according to WYPR. Oil prices per barrel have surged roughly 50% since the war began, according to WBAL.

Ammar Moussa, spokesperson for Gov. Wes Moore, issued a blunt rebuttal. "Marylanders need real relief, not a 30-day gas tax suspension that would blow a $100 million hole in our transportation budget at the same time we're working to close Maryland's budget shortfall," Moussa said. "If Maryland Republicans are serious about lowering costs, they should pick up the phone and call Donald Trump and tell him to end this missionless war — instead of asking Maryland taxpayers to help pay for it." Moussa added that the conflict "is costing more than a billion dollars a day and driving up the price of oil, fuel, and everyday goods."

Buckel pushed back on the fiscal alarm. "I don't think it will cause a massive fiscal hole to the Transportation Trust Fund," he said. "I think it's something that can be repaired, as long as it's on a short term basis. And we hope that by April, by May, what's going on in Iran has largely concluded favorably for the United States and our interests and oil markets return to normal." He also argued the approach would outperform Democratic alternatives: "Cutting the gas tax for a month will likely save the average Marylander more than the Democrat's energy plan. Marylanders should not have to wait for relief."

The path forward in the legislature is complicated. Senate Minority Leader Steve Hershey acknowledged the difficulty of moving quickly. "We made a good-faith effort to introduce emergency legislation in the Senate to provide immediate relief to motorists," Hershey said. "Unfortunately, there are several procedural hurdles to overcome to formally introduce a bill this late in the session." Senate President Bill Ferguson, a Baltimore City Democrat, pushed back Friday morning, noting the gas tax funds about a quarter of the state's transportation project revenue.

House Republicans see a workaround. Buckel said they plan to pursue the suspension as an amendment to the Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act, which is expected to reach the House floor next week. "The House still has a path to get this done through the budget, and we intend to use it," he said.

The proposal draws directly on recent history. Maryland implemented a 30-day gas tax holiday in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine, a move Ready called the explicit model. "Our joint Republican Caucus is going to be pursuing a 30-day gas tax holiday that would mirror what we did in the winter of 2022, when the General Assembly, in a bipartisan way, and Governor Hogan signed a 30-day gas tax holiday," Ready said. That 2022 pause cost the state approximately $98 million in transportation revenue, according to state estimates cited by WYPR and the Union-Bulletin; Moore's office and WBAL round that figure to $100 million. Maryland's gas tax, at just over 46 cents per gallon, ranks seventh-highest in the nation according to a 2025 Tax Foundation report, which helps explain both the political appeal of a pause and the scale of the budget impact if one goes through.