Overview
- Beshear, who on Tuesday signed an emergency regulation, froze the state gas tax at 26.4 cents per gallon to stop a scheduled July 1 increase to 27 cents.
- The governor also issued a state-of-emergency order to cut the tax by 10 cents per gallon, which requires Attorney General Russell Coleman's sign-off, and Coleman said he will approve it with outlets reporting a May 11 start once signed.
- To push savings to drivers, Beshear activated Kentucky’s price-gouging law and urged Congress to pause the federal gas tax through the end of the year.
- Local relief is set to grow on May 27 when an EPA decision takes effect removing Jefferson, Bullitt, and Oldham counties from a costlier reformulated gasoline requirement.
- The governor’s office estimates the freeze would save about $1.7 million per month and the 10-cent cut up to $26.8 million in one month, as AAA lists Kentucky’s average at $4.28 with higher prices in Northern Kentucky.