McLean County Times

Illinois Rep. Dan Caulkins argues that Gov. J.B. Pritzker is at fault for high gas prices in Illinois.

“I’ve included a lot of information that explains why Springfield has a hard time ‘working,’” Rep. Caulkins wrote on Facebook with a link to his website. 

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported gas prices are determined by various factors. Investopedia wrote gas prices cover “acquiring and refining crude oil as well as distributing and marketing the gasoline, in addition to state and federal taxes.”

In his weekly legislative update, Caulkins said that Pritzker owes Illinois residents a significant cut to the gas taxes and for the cut to be permanent. He linked to an article from Wirepoints, the same one where the graphic he used came from.

He also linked to a story from The Daily Caller and pointed fingers at President Joe Biden, accusing the White House of lying about Russia and gas prices.

Several Illinois Republicans share Caulkins’ concerns about gas prices.

“I’m sure our colleagues across the aisle and their constituents are just as unhappy about gas prices and how fast they are rising,” Sen. Don DeWitte said. “We can and we must work together to provide this relief to our residents. It’s important to note that our legislation would not have a negative effect on the state budget, since the budget revenue is based on a cost of gas of $2.87 per gallon, that's the rate that was established by the Department of Revenue a year ago.”

On March 9, Wirepoints published a piece that pointed out how Pritzker doubled the state motor fuel tax in 2019 — for the capital bill meant to fund improvements to rails, roads and bridges. Wirepoints suggests Pritzker should reverse that tax hike and pointed out that Illinois residents pay $0.82 per gallon of gas with federal gas taxes and state taxes, as of January.

Wirepoints also noted that the 6.25% sales tax on gasoline is just padding the state's coffers. The publication also criticized Pritzker for supporting the national bailouts -- the infrastructure bill and American Recovery Plan Act in particular. 

Several Republicans have proposed legislation aimed at capping the state’s gas tax.

“I am also co-sponsoring legislation along with Leader Mark Batinick, Rep. Paul Jacobs and Rep. Dan Swanson that would cap the rate of sales tax at 0.18 cents per gallon of gas,” Rep. Patrick Windhorst wrote on his website. “(House Bill) 5481 would prevent the sales tax on a gallon of gas from ever going above that amount regardless of an increase in gas prices.”

Also in that legislative note, Caulkins pointed out that farmers are paying double for fertilizer and fuel, and blamed Biden's climate focus for problems in Illinois as well.