ALBANY, New York (WWNY) – As the price of everyday items goes up, Republican state lawmakers are reiterating their stance to suspend sales tax on gas and they’re also adding food and other necessities to the list.
Republican lawmakers introduced the Inflation Relief and Consumer Assistance Plan. Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay says it would lower prices on dozens of everyday items by eliminating sales tax charges for two years.
“This is something we can do immediate, to provide immediate relief to those hard working families of New York,” he said.
Along with a global pandemic that’s been going on for more than two years, supply and demand has been unpredictable. Because of that, Americans are seeing some of the highest prices they’ve seen in decades for basic necessities.
“Gas prices are up 50 percent. Energy prices are up 30 percent, and groceries are up 12 percent,” said Barclay.
Lawmakers say inflation rates haven’t been this high in 40 years, and the Consumer Price Index, which measures the cost of everyday products, climbed by 7 percent between December 2020 and December 2021.
To put that in perspective, a family of four sees a monthly cost increase of $513 to their household budget, according to state Republican lawmakers.
So what’s the solution? They say cut sales tax on everyday items like gas, personal care products, housekeeping supplies, and prepared foods at grocery stores and restaurants.
Assemblyman Ken Blankenbush (R. – 117th District) wrote in a statement, “No matter where you travel in the district or state, people are talking about inflation. I urge my Majority colleagues to work with us to pass our inflation relief bill so we can put more money back in the pockets of New Yorkers.”
We reached out to Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, a Democrat, to get his input on this proposed legislation, but we haven’t heard back yet.
Republican lawmakers are outnumbered by the Democratic majority in both the state assembly and senate, so it’s unclear what the future of this bill will look like.
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