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by WILL FOLKS
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South Carolina gas prices kept surging this week even as ruling “Republicans” – who are in the process of foisting massive spending increases on taxpayers – continued blocking temporary relief at the pump for millions of Palmetto State motorists.
Despite multiple attempts by leaders of the S.C. Freedom Caucus to secure a vote on a temporary suspension of the state’s gas tax, powerful speaker of the House Murrell Smith and his top budget writer, Bruce Bannister, have refused to even allow the issue to be debated.
Democrats and Republicans – including several leading candidates for governor – have proposed suspending South Carolina’s 28-cent per gallon levy until current price spikes retreat. This suspension was first championed two months ago by Democrat state senator Russell Ott and Democrat state representative Justin Bamberg.
In late March, state attorney general Alan Wilson – the frontrunner for the GOP gubernatorial nomination – became the first Republican candidate for governor to endorse the suspension.
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Had these proposals been approved on April 1, 2026, motorists in South Carolina would have saved an estimated $120 million by now – an amount which could have easily been absorbed by the Palmetto State’s reserve funds (or by simply curbing spending in the 2026-2027 state budget).
Also, don’t discount the stimulative effect of putting that much money back into our struggling economy…
Instead, lawmakers have clenched their vice grip over this regressive levy, which the GOP-controlled legislature raised by 71% from 2017 to 2022 as part of a failed campaign to address glaring infrastructure deficiencies.
As of this publication, the average cost of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in South Carolina stood at $4.085 – up a staggering $1.31 per gallon (or 46.9%) from the same time last year. Nearly all of that spike has occurred in the last two-and-a-half months – following U.S. president Donald Trump‘s decision to launch an undeclared war against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
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RELATED | TRUMP PUSHES S.C. REPUBLICANS ON REDISTRICTING
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With elections approaching, South Carolina Democrats are making sure Trump is saddled with the blame for the price hikes.
“Americans were already struggling with high costs, but Trump pushed ahead with this senseless war anyway,” sixth district congressman Jim Clyburn said.
Despite their reputation as tax-and-spenders, Democrats in South Carolina have historically called for 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, however.
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 12th lowest nationally.
Keep it tuned to our media outlet as we continue to track these prices… and the response (or lack thereof) from our leaders.
BANNER VIA: GETTY IMAGES
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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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