State Sen. Tina Polsky, a Democrat from Boca Raton who is exiting the Legislature in November, has revived a remote call for the state to suspend its gas tax.
“Florida can’t control every factor that drives gas prices — global oil markets, refinery capacity, geopolitical shocks. But Florida can control the taxes it charges at the pump,” Polsky wrote in an op-ed.
An average gallon of gas was $4.20 Thursday according to AAA, more than $1 higher than prior to the start of the latest military conflict with Iran at the end of February. Meanwhile, diesel on Thursday slipped under $6 a gallon for the first time in just over three weeks.
The state motor fuel tax is 22 cents a gallon on both gas and diesel. Additional rates vary by county.
Democrats initially proposed a temporary suspension of the gas tax in May, when the average was also above $4 a gallon.
At the time, Gov. Ron DeSantis said he’d sign a tax package that included a reduction in the state’s 22-cents-per-gallon gas tax. But he questioned its effectiveness in providing relief for Floridians’ finances.
“When we did that last time, I think the Legislature was less than impressed on the results,” DeSantis said during a May 22 bill signing event in Jacksonville.
DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Legislature last suspended the gas tax in October 2022.
Polsky noted that the 2022 discount period was “timed perfectly to land just before a November election in which Gov. DeSantis himself was on the ballot.”
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This article appears in Oct. 01 – 07, 2026.
