Pump Pain: South Carolina ‘Republicans’ Still Refuse to Suspend Gas Tax

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by WILL FOLKS

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As U.S. president Donald Trump imposes a naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz in the latest brinksmanship tied to his administration’s ill-conceived war with Iran, prices on gasoline back home continued to skyrocket.

According to AAA, the average cost of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline currently stands at $4.125 – a whopping 38.4% increase since the conflict began on February 28, 2026. In South Carolina, per gallon prices hit $3.838 this week – up 46.7% from pre-war levels.

Despite this massive spike – which has caused huge shocks to family budgets – “Republican” leaders in the Palmetto State have steadfastly refused to follow the lead of GOP leaders in Georgia and suspend the state’s gas tax.

Despite calls from Democrats, fiscal conservatives and establishment “Republicans” urging them to temporarily lift the 28-cent per gallon levy, powerful speaker of the House Murrell Smith and his top budget writer, Bruce Bannister, will not even let the issue come up for a vote.

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From 2017 to 2022, the GOP-controlled General Assembly approved a 71% gas tax hike as part of a failed campaign to address glaring infrastructure deficiencies. Now, in addition to proposing new tolls and taxes to “fix our roads,” Smith and Bannister are refusing to provide any temporary relief at the pump – even though state reserve funds would allow for the complete elimination of the tax for two full years.

Smith and Bannister’s refusal comes as they recently foisted a massive $42.6 billion budget on taxpayers – and provided a mere pittance of income tax relief to only 42.8% of income tax filers.

Led by attorney general Alan Wilson, nearly all the GOP candidates for governor of the Palmetto State have embraced the gas tax suspension – which was first championed by Democrat state senator Russell Ott and Democrat state representative Justin Bamberg.

Wilson referred to the proposal as “a commonsense, targeted step that puts money back in the hands of families right now while we work on long-term solutions.”

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As FITSNews has frequently pointed out, Palmetto State gas prices tend to be among the nation’s lowest – although South Carolinians have historically spent higher percentages of what they earn on fuel due to their chronically low income levels. Currently, South Carolina’s gas prices are 17th lowest nationally, although the enduring drag of our lower incomes – combined with a wartime spike in prices that exceeds the national average – is conspiring to crush consumers.

All of which makes the failure of the state’s GOP leaders all the more difficult to comprehend…

While being known on the whole as tax-and-spenders, Democrats in South Carolina have historically called on gas taxes to be lowered – or eliminated – because they (correctly) believe the tax is regressive.

Republicans, who purport to belong to the party of “limited government,” continue to move the needle in the opposite direction.

Hopefully GOP primary voters will recognize this in the upcoming June partisan primary races and support fiscal conservatives – including members of the S.C. Freedom Caucus – who have consistently fought to lower taxes and spending.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

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