Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey is asking lawmakers to suspend the state’s gasoline tax for two months, a proposal that would remove 24 cents per gallon from the levy while fuel prices remain sharply elevated. Healey said she plans to place the measure in an upcoming closeout supplemental budget, meaning the pause cannot begin unless the Legislature approves it.
The administration estimates the two-month suspension would cost roughly $120 million and says it would replace the foregone revenue with surplus proceeds from the state’s voter-approved surtax on high incomes, according to an Axios report. That funding detail is central because motor-fuel excise revenue normally supports transportation. The state tax guide lists the gasoline and diesel excise at 24 cents per gallon and notes that it is embedded in the retail price.
Healey said the bill would require retailers to pass the full tax reduction to drivers and would address fuel that stations bought before the suspension. Her office put the average Massachusetts gasoline price near $4.40 a gallon and diesel near $6.40. At the Tuesday announcement, Healey said the change could take effect one week after lawmakers sign off, according to WSAR coverage. For a 15-gallon purchase, the state-tax reduction would equal $3.60 if the entire 24 cents reaches the customer.
The pause would apply only to the Commonwealth’s excise. It would not suspend the separate federal motor-fuel tax or other price components, so pump prices would not fall by the full gap between today’s average and earlier levels. The administration’s promise is limited to the state’s 24-cent charge, subject to compliance by retailers and whatever final language lawmakers enact.
The proposal arrives amid an election-year dispute over how long relief should last and how to finance it. Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Minogue has advocated suspending the tax whenever gasoline exceeds $4 a gallon and has also called for eventually eliminating it. Healey’s plan is narrower and identifies a replacement revenue source. House Speaker Ron Mariano had called a suspension fiscally irresponsible before the governor unveiled her proposal, while Senate President Karen Spilka said she was open to reviewing it. A State House account said full legislative language was not available immediately after the announcement.
That leaves several operational questions for lawmakers: the exact start and end dates, the enforcement mechanism for pass-through savings, how inventories bought under the tax would be handled, and how replacement revenue would be transferred to transportation accounts. Those details will determine whether the advertised 24-cent reduction appears promptly and uniformly at pumps.
The immediate next step is filing the supplemental budget language. Until both chambers act and Healey signs a final measure, the tax remains in effect. The proposal therefore represents a defined, temporary relief plan rather than an active price cut, and its fiscal safeguards and retailer requirements will be tested in the legislative review.
