THE LOOP (WBBM Newsradio) -- Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the solutions for rising gasoline prices lie outside the state, and that a call to suspend a state gas tax would cause more problems in a tight budget year.
The governor's rejection of the GOP plan now being considered in Springfield comes days after Indiana's Republican governor Mike Braun enacted a 30-day suspension of that state's gas tax.
After an appearance at the Union League Club, 65 W. Jackson Blvd., the governor suggested the state could not afford the loss of revenue that would be caused by a sales tax suspension.
"I would love to do it. They (Republicans) were the ones who didn't want to do it in '22 when I proposed it and it passed ... they said it was some kind of political stunt," said the Democratic governor. "When they take away those dollars, they're taking away dollars that would go toward building infrastructure," much of which is in Republican-controlled areas of central and southern Illinois, he continued.
The governor pinned the increase in the state's gasoline prices, which he pegged at $1.35 a gallon, squarely on the Trump Administration's decision to join Israel in a war on Iran. Pritzker touted his proposals to lower home and car insurance costs as ways to address affordability, but said the real solution to rising gas prices rested with Washington.
"We're gonna do whatever we can, but ... the best relief they could get is to end the war in Iran," Pritzker said.
Criticizes GOP plan to suspend gas sales tax
Criticizes GOP plan to suspend gas sales tax
