(The Center Square) – Gov. Josh Shapiro and State Treasurer Stacy Garrity agree: gasoline prices are too high in Pennsylvania.
However, they cite different factors contributing to current prices and offer different solutions.
“Let’s be very clear: gas is at almost $4.50 a gallon because of a war in Iran that we had no business getting into, Trump’s got no earthly idea how to get out of, and my opponent has supported it every step of the way,” Shapiro said in response to a question from The Center Square on Sunday. “Notwithstanding that it’s left 21 American families with an empty seat at the dinner table, notwithstanding the fact that, the average Pennsylvania family is paying about 1,000 bucks more just in energy costs because of this war.”
In continuing his case, Shapiro said the Trump administration has to end the war in Iran, which would open the Strait of Hormuz.
“That will bring down gas prices,” he said.
Garrity said it is “ridiculous” that neighboring states like Ohio, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York have cheaper gas, while describing Pennsylvania as the “Saudi Arabia” of natural gas.
If elected governor, Garrity said she would pause the gas tax until prices came down.
“The Rainy Day Fund doesn’t belong to the governor,” she said to reporters at a campaign event in Montgomery County on Thursday. “It belongs to the people.”
“And a good use of the Rainy Day Fund would be to basically pause the gas tax, the diesel tax, until those prices come down,” Garrity said.
Shapiro, when asked by The Center Square on Sunday to respond to Garrity’s proposal, said that he’s “not going to pay much attention to any gimmicks here.”
“I think what we’ve got to do is end this war in Iran,” he said.
When asked by The Center Square if she thought the War in Iran contributed to higher gas prices, Garrity said “of course it does.”
“But a larger issue is that Zelenskyy bombed a lot of the refinery in Russia, so that’s been a huge contributor,” Garrity said. “So, it’s not really that we don’t have oil; it’s refining capacity.”
Garrity’s comments are seemingly similar to comments made by President Donald Trump in October, when the president assigned blame to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the bombing of Russian oil refineries for higher diesel prices.
While Trump held the advantage in the 2024 election over the issue of affordability, recent polling indicates that Americans have soured on his job performance with regard to higher costs, including the price of gasoline.
“Guess what? We haven’t had refining in the United States, we haven’t had any refining in the United States in years and years and years and years,” she continued. “And, so, that’s another thing that we can tackle. I mean, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be producing affordable energy.”
As of Monday, according to AAA, the average price per gallon is $4.43, while the national average is $4.17.
When Shapiro and Garrity met for their lone debate on Oct. 7, the average price for a gallon of gasoline was $4.47, $1 higher than the year before, while diesel was $6.55.
During that debate, Garrity noted that during Shapiro’s previous bid for governor, he promised a $250 rebate for gasoline to Pennsylvanians who had a valid driver’s license.
“Well, I don’t know about our listeners, but I didn’t get my check in the mail, and so I will keep this promise, and I will do two better,” Garrity said. “We will give a rebate for June, July, August driving months at $750, and what that does, it reduces the average price of gas by a third.”
When pressed by moderators on how long she would support the gas tax being suspended, Garrity said, “two or three months, because I think prices are going to start going down.”
During that debate, Shapiro responded by blaming legislators for spending all the rebate money before he was sworn into office.
With regard to backing a gas tax suspension, Shapiro said that he “made clear to both Republicans and Democrats that I’m open to that if they can find a way forward.”
This article was originally published by The Center Square and is republished under its open-access guidelines.