Good News North Carolina, Gas Relief Stimulus Money Could Come Soon
With gas prices soaring and poised to stay about $4 a gallon for the near future Congress is searching to provide some help. Democrats in the House have introduced multiple proposed bills with the intent of sending gas relief stimulus money to Americans. The plans are slightly reminiscent of 2021’s proposal which sent $1,400 stimulus checks to many individuals.
Nationally gas prices have averaged over $4 per gallon for the past two weeks. And Monday that average price was $1.37 higher than the same date a year ago. Combined with rising inflation on a variety of products, this is causing a hardship on a lot of American families.
The first gas price relief stimulous option:
The first proposals was brought by Representatives Mike Thompson of California, John Larson of Connecticut, and Lauren Underwood of Illinois. If passed it would send what they refer to as an “energy rebate” to individuals who qualified for previous stimulus checks. The rebate would be $100 per month for individuals or $200 to couples as long as the national gas price is above $4. $100 would also be sent for each dependent. This would be in effect through the end of 2022 or whenever gas returns to less than $4 per gallon.
Read more about this proposal here.
Monthly gas credits:
A second proposal was raised by Representative Peter DeFazio, a democrat out of Oregon. HIs proposal is called the Stop Gas Price Gourging Tax and Rebate Act. It aims to send households a monthly advance tax credit (think the child tax credit of 2021). Unlike the previously mentioned bill it is not contingent upon the average gas price. Money would come from taxes on oil companies. The size of the payments is still TBD and dependent upon the amount of money brought in from the oil company tax.
Read more about this proposal here
A third option:
A third bill was introduced back on March 10th. Similarly it would tax big oil companies that import or produce a minimum of 300,000 barrels of oil daily (as of 2019). That money would then be used for quarterly payments to Americans (based on the previous stimulous thresholds). One of the sponsors is Representative Ro Khanna, a California democrat. According to Khanna, as reported by WCNC, oil companies”will owe a per-barrel tax equal to 50 percent of the difference between the current price of a barrel of oil and the pre-pandemic average price per barrel between 2015 and 2019.”
How much gas stimulous money would Americans receive under the plan? At $120 per barrel of oil, Khanna estimates single filers getting $240 per year while joint filers would receive $360.
Read more about this proposal here
No mater what plan is adopted something needs to be done. States like Maryland and South Carolin have temporarily suspended their gas tax to give drivers a little relief. What would you like to see done?
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