Seven Days Later, Healey’s Gas Tax Promise

Is Still Just a Campaign Stunt

Washington did not make Massachusetts unaffordable. Healey’s tax-and-spend record did,

while other states keep their people and their jobs.

 

BOSTON, MA. One week after Governor Maura Healey promised a two-month suspension of the state’s 24-cent gas tax, nothing has happened. Drivers are still paying the full tax. The Legislature has not passed it. House Speaker Ron Mariano had already called a gas-tax holiday “fiscally irresponsible.” Last week’s announcement was not governing. It was a campaign play.

 

Healey filed the pause only after Republican nominee Mike Minogue put real relief on the table, and she timed it to expire right after Election Day. She spent years calling gas-tax holidays a gimmick. Seven days later, the gimmick still is not law.

 

Massachusetts Republican Party Chairwoman Amy Carnevale said:

“Maura Healey wants voters to blame Washington for everything. Washington did not invent our housing costs, our energy bills, our tax burden, or the fact that people and jobs are leaving this state. Her policies did. Neighboring states and low-tax states are keeping residents and employers.

Massachusetts is not. That is a Beacon Hill problem, not a talking point about D.C.”

 

“Seven days later, families still pay $4.40 a gallon and diesel is still crushing truckers. A two-month promise she cannot get her own party to pass is election-year pandering.”

 

Massachusetts remains one of the most expensive states in the country. High taxes and high costs have driven people and taxable income out of the state. Job growth has lagged the nation while other states grow without emptying out.

 

Healey’s last-minute proposals, the gas tax included, do not change that record. They paper over it until November 3.

 

“If she wanted to cut the gas tax, she had three and a half years,” Carnevale said. “She waited until she was losing the argument.”

Massachusetts families need a governor who will actually cut costs, not one who blames Washington and hopes the cameras move on,” she concluded.

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