Americans are paying wartime prices at the pump while most of their governors collect the tax and issue press releases. The Iran conflict has squeezed oil through the Strait of Hormuz for seven months. Gasoline is near or above $4 a gallon in much of the country. Diesel is worse. That cost hits commuters, farmers, truckers, and grocery bills. It is not abstract. It is cash leaving working families every week.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp just did what a governor with a surplus and emergency authority is supposed to do. He suspended the state motor-fuel tax for 30 days starting September 29—33.3 cents off gasoline, 37.3 cents off diesel. He did it in March as well. Georgia is using reserves so roads still get funded. Drivers get the break now.

A few other states have frozen a hike or kept a holiday going. Most have done nothing that shows up on the pump. They keep the tax, keep the revenue, and watch prices stay high. There is no excuse. States have rainy-day funds and emergency powers. They used them for storms. A nationwide fuel shock that raises the cost of living is not a lesser crisis. “We need the money for roads” is not a reason to keep charging people extra when crude is already inflated by war.

Politicians who have done nothing have no standing to lecture anyone about affordability. They have no standing to blame Trump for high prices while they refuse to use the one lever they actually control. They want votes. They want another term. They campaign on cost of living. Then they sit in office with the power to suspend a state gas tax and they do nothing. That is not leadership. That is asking people to pay twice—once at the pump and once at the ballot box for officials who will not act.

Kemp showed it can be done in days. Every governor who has not followed is choosing the tax over the taxpayer.
Why isn’t every state suspending its gas tax until the Iran conflict ends to help the people, the way Brian Kemp did in Georgia? There is no excuse.