ALBANY – The State Senate’s one-house budget package, approved on Monday, includes an immediate lifting of the 33.3-cent per gallon gasoline tax at the pump through the end of the year.
The measure was pushed by Senator James Skoufis (D, Cornwall).
“Anyone with half a brain knows that the sky-high gas prices are hitting people where it hurts the most in their pocketbooks,” he said.
Prices at the pump are hovering around $5 per gallon.
In the Assembly, Republican Colin Schmitt (R, New Windsor) has also backed the gas tax holiday, but he opposes the Assembly one-house budget bill provision that provides free healthcare to “illegal immigrants at the expense of law-abiding taxpayers.”
Senator Michael Martucci (R, New Hampton) found fault with the Democratic-drafted budget package, which he said “takes us even further down the road of putting the needs of criminals and inmates before that of law-abiding citizens” by among other things, sealing the criminal records of felons and giving tuition assistance to convicts.
He was glad to see some components of the package including fair pay for home care, fee-for-service parity for neighborhood pharmacies, and expanded bonuses for healthcare workers.
