By Scott Dance and Alison Knezevich
Gas prices across Maryland have hovered about 35 to 40 cents below the national average for the past month because of a 30-day holiday on collection of the state fuel tax — but with the tax break in effect only through 11:59 p.m. Saturday, they are set to jump well above $4 a gallon Sunday.
That will come as a shock to many drivers who have appreciated the savings as they struggle with rising pocketbook pressures. The tax holiday will end just days after an economic report confirmed that inflation is rising more sharply than it has since 1981, in large part because of the surging cost of fuel.
”I’m a single mom, so it’s really been affecting me badly,” said Ayanna Martin, a 27-year-old Towson University student who works as a call center agent. On Wednesday she put $10 worth of $3.90-a-gallon gas into her tank, just enough to make it through the week.
”This is all I have for the next couple of days, until I get paid on Friday,” Martin said. “I’m just trying to budget. Just trying to survive, basically.”
State lawmakers paused collection of the state’s 36-cent-per-gallon gas tax and 37-cent-per-gallon diesel tax in March in response to fuel prices that surged to record highs around the country after Russia attacked Ukraine.
Economic sanctions imposed on Russia in response to the invasion have had wide-reaching impacts on food and energy markets, including limiting the significant supply of crude oil exported from that country. At the same time, inflation has been rapidly accelerating for the first time in four decades because of surging demand, as the U.S. and global economies have recovered unexpectedly quickly from the coronavirus-induced recession that began in the spring of 2020.
Nationally, gas prices hit an all-time high average of $4.33 on March 11, while Maryland prices hit a peak of $4.31 that same day, according to the automotive group AAA. As of Wednesday, the national average price for a gallon of regular gas was $4.08, 43% higher than a year earlier. In Maryland, the average stood just below $3.70, 34% higher than a year ago.
Rising fuel prices are a significant driver of the broader inflation in the economy. They have led to higher transportation costs for the shipment of goods across the economy, which, in turn, has contributed to higher prices for consumers. Red more at The Baltimore Sun.
Photo: Aaron Hernandez of Queens, New York, fills up his SUV on Wednesday in Towson. Maryland’s pump prices are nearly 40 cents below the national average thanks to a statewide gas tax holiday, but it expires a minute before midnight Saturday. (Kenneth K. Lam/The Baltimore Sun)
