Gas tax suspension to end Wednesday as Georgia lawmakers return to Capitol for special session

ATLANTA — The current suspension of state taxes at gas pumps across Georgia is set to end Wednesday as state lawmakers return to Atlanta for a special legislative session.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp first suspended the state’s gas taxes in September, citing high inflation and bad economic conditions impacting state residents.

In October, the governor extended the suspension again, before adding one final extension through Nov. 29.

However, due to state law, and Kemp’s convening a special legislative session to redraw voting maps per a federal court decision, the gas tax suspension cannot be extended.

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State law orders that the governor has the “power to suspend the collection of taxes, or any part thereof, due to the state until the next meeting of the General Assembly but no longer,” according to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, section 45-12-22.

As a result, savings at the pump will be, at least for now, going away come Wednesday when the Georgia Senate and Georgia House of Representatives gather in Atlanta.

It’s unclear if Georgia lawmakers will try to use legislative powers to suspend the tax instead, but state statute will not allow Kemp to extend the tax collection again until the session is over.

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