Unleaded gasoline is $3.99 per gallon on April 8, 2026 at Exxon at 129 Lee St. W in Charleston, West Virginia. (Photo by Leann Ray/West Virginia Watch)
As gasoline prices remain high despite the United States’ war in Iran, West Virginia Democrats and a group of conservative Republican lawmakers have called on the state to suspend the excise tax on fuel.
“West Virginia families are being squeezed at the pump every day, and West Virginia Democrats will not stand idly by,” Del said. House Democratic leader Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell, said in a news release Wednesday. “Suspension of the gas tax is a direct and immediate way to put money back in people’s pockets. West Virginians deserve relief now.”
According to AAA, the national average for gas prices was over $4 per gallon earlier this month For the first time in four years. As of Wednesday, the average gasoline price in West Virginia was $3.98 per gallon and the national average was $4.16 per gallon.
The Trump administration began the war against Iran with Israel on February 28th. The United States agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran on Tuesday after Trump threatened to wipe out the country’s “entire civilization,” according to a report by the New York Times. NBC News reported that the agreement is contingent on the country reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which is used to transport oil.
The eight House Democrats held a news conference Wednesday calling on Gov. Patrick Morrisey to call state lawmakers into a special session to approve the gas tax exemption. Democrats said they would introduce legislation that would suspend the state’s gas tax for 30 days if the price exceeds a base average of $2.85 to $3 per gallon. The bill would take effect by the end of the year.
The state fuel tax averages about 36 cents per gallon and raises between $30 million and $40 million a month, supporting the state’s highway fund, Democrats said.
Hornbuckle said the state can afford the gas tax exemption.
“We believe that with our surpluses already accumulated and a huge backstop in case of an emergency that is now, we have sufficient resources to replace these in the road fund,” he said.
Earlier this month, the West Virginia Freedom Caucus released a statement calling on the governor to suspend the state fuel tax for 90 days.
“If the government is making everything more expensive, the least they can do is get out of the way,” Del said. Chris Anders, R-Berkeley, chairman of the Freedom Caucus, in an April 3 press release.
The Freedom Caucus called on Morrisey to operate his “existing constitutional authority to declare a state of emergency and immediately suspend fuel taxes.”
A spokesman for Morrisey did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.
