Senate Democrats vote down gas tax holiday

RICHMOND, Va. (WDBJ) - The Virginia Senate has defeated Governor Glenn Youngkin’s proposal to suspend the state’s gas tax.

The vote came Friday evening as lawmakers acted on more than 30 budget amendments.

Republicans in the House approved most of the Governor’s proposals, including a three-month gas tax holiday.

But Democrats in the Senate said the plan wouldn’t guarantee savings at the pump and would take away more than $300 million from critical highway improvements.

“You can’t just build roads on wishes,” said Sen. John Edwards (D-Roanoke). “You have to have money to build roads. Where does the money come from, mostly the gas tax.”

“A lot of people that are in this chamber, you may be able to pay the bill, but I’ve just got to tell you, there’s a lot of working Virginians out there that this inflation crisis is hitting them right between the eyes,” said Sen. Steve Newman (R-Bedford Co.).”

Governor Youngkin reacted in a post on twitter Friday night, saying “Democrats failed to put politics aside for the good of Virginians.”

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