Lake County Gazette

State Sen. Craig Wilcox (R-McHenry) wants the State Legislature to address spiraling gasoline prices.

"I’m calling for legislators to return to Springfield immediately to provide meaningful relief at the pump," the senator said in a statement.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker doubled Illinois' gas tax from 19 cents to 38 cents in 2019, according to Fox 32 Chicago. Pritzker also instituted an annual gas tax increase. Illinois Democrats have passed legislation that will postpone this year's scheduled gas tax increase of 2.2 cents from July  to January. The bill will require gas stations to put stickers on gas pumps notifying Illinoisans of the postponement. Gas stations will be fined $500 per day if they refuse to display the stickers. 

Josh Sharp,  president and CEO of the Illinois Fuel and Retail Association (IFRA), has called the mandatory stickers "free election year advertising for the governor."  

The gas tax increase delay is part of a bundle of tax rebates and delays in the record $46.5 billion 2023 fiscal year budget, according to the nonprofit group, Illinois Policy. The tax rebates and delays will save the average Illinois family $556. The 2.2 cents increase to the gas tax will take effect January 2023, and will be followed by another increase in July 2023, likely of 3.8 cents per gallon, bringing Illinois' total gasoline tax up to 45.2 cents per gallon. 

IFRA sued over the sticker mandate, seeking a temporary restraining order for when the bill takes effect, according to Advantage News. “At the end of the day,  we hope to get the law permanently struck down but in the meantime we’re looking for hopefully a temporary restraining order against the state from enforcing this law when it goes into effect July 1,”  Sharp  said.    

A federal judge rejected the IFRA's attempt to block the sticker mandate, Advantage News reported.

The average cost of a gallon of regular gas in Illinois is  $5.435 as of Monday, according to AAA, up from $3.299 one year ago. In Lake County, gas prices average $5.601 per gallon.               

"As we approach the Fourth of July - which many consider to be the mid-point of summer, gas prices aren’t getting any cheaper," Wilcox said in a statement. "In fact,  they are only getting worse as motorists across Illinois are continuing to feel the sting of record-high prices."

Before adjourning in April,  Republicans in the Illinois Legislature proposed capping the state’s sales tax on gas, which would save drivers up to 20 cents per gallon, Wilcox said.

"Unfortunately, Gov. Pritzker and Democratic legislators had something else in mind and passed a law that would simply delay an automatic 2-cent increase to the state’s Motor Fuel Tax, which was set to take effect on July 1, 2022, until after the election in November," he said. "Consumers would see that 2-cent increase on Jan. 1, 2023, and then another increase on July 1, 2023."

Wilcox wants a special legislative session to repeal the "governor’s 2-cent election-year gimmick" and pass legislation capping the sales tax on gasoline.