AAA Predicts 25% Increase of Automobile Travel this Holiday Season
Amid the growing concerns over skyrocketing inflation, which saw the highest increase in 40 years this November, the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance once again urged State House leaders to use some of the state’s windfall sum of excess tax revenue to provide relief to Massachusetts motorists through reducing the state gas tax. In November, MassFiscal encouraged Gov. Baker to apply his two-month sales tax free holiday idea toward the state’s 24 cents per gallon gasoline tax as motorists prepared to travel for the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and holiday seasons.
Massachusetts motorists are currently paying the highest gas prices the state has seen since 2012. Earlier today, AAA Northeast estimated that 2.3 million Massachusetts residents will be traveling for the holidays, up from 1.7 million a year ago. Of those, approximately 87 percent of the Massachusetts travelers will be by an automobile. AAA data shows a 25 percent increase of automobile travel this year compared to last. AAA estimates December 23, the day before Christmas Eve, will be the busiest day on Massachusetts roadways.
Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka currently control billions of dollars in excess taxpayer money and federal COVID relief money. They are also proposing a tax gimmick at next year’s November election in which they hope to fool enough voters into amending the state constitution in order to do away with its equal taxation clause. Despite the billions of dollars in excess tax collections, Speaker Mariano and President Spilka will try to fool enough voters into thinking they don’t have enough money for “transportation.”
“As tax collections continue to come in well over projections, Speaker Mariano and Senate President Spilka could easily use a small portion of the taxpayer’s money to provide relief for Massachusetts motorists. The working poor and middle class are suffering through the worst inflation surge the country has experienced in 40 years and on top of that, Massachusetts motorists are paying the highest gas prices in nearly a decade. For millions upon millions of Massachusetts families, they will be on the road to visit family and loved ones, all while our State House leaders refuse to give them any relief,” stated Paul Diego Craney, spokesman for the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance.
“The millions of Massachusetts motorists who will be paying the highest prices they have experienced in decades in order to see family over the holidays should remember that Speaker Mariano and Senate President Spilka want to take more out of their paychecks next year, as they will try to fool enough voters into thinking they need to change the state constitution to allow them to increase the income tax,” concluded Craney.