Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at a primary election night event hosted by the Young Conservatives of Texas and the Texas Young Republicans at Cedar Door Patio Bar & Grill in Austin on Tuesday, March 3, 2026. Abbott is seeking the Republican nomination for governor.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
As gas prices climb above $4 a gallon, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Gina Hinojosa is renewing calls for Gov. Greg Abbott to suspend Texas’ 20-cent-per-gallon gas tax, arguing the governor already has the legal authority to do it during a disaster declaration.
Abbott’s office says he does not.
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The dispute centers on a narrow but politically significant legal question: Does Texas law allow the governor to suspend taxes using emergency powers, or only regulatory rules and procedures?
Texas drivers currently pay a 20-cent state gasoline tax and the same rate on diesel fuel under state law.
Hinojosa first proposed suspending the tax last month, framing it as immediate relief for families, commuters, truck drivers and small businesses struggling with higher fuel prices. Her campaign renewed the push this week after President Donald Trump said he supported suspending the federal gas tax.
Texas gubernatorial candidate and state representative Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin, calls for Texas Governor Greg Abbott to suspend the state gas tax in a press conference at a Mobil gas station in Austin, April 23, 2026.
Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman
“Greg Abbott has the power to make gas 20 cents cheaper for every Texan driving to work,” Hinojosa said in an April statement announcing the proposal.
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Can Abbott legally suspend the gas tax?
Hinojosa’s campaign argues Abbott can use his disaster authority under Chapter 418 of the Texas Government Code, which allows governors during disasters to suspend some laws and agency rules that could “prevent, hinder, or delay necessary action in coping with a disaster.”
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, a Republican who also supports suspending the state motor-fuels tax, made a similar argument Tuesday.
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Miller said Abbott has repeatedly used executive authority through “emergency declarations, disaster powers, regulatory actions, or suspending certain rules and regulations” when it aligned with his priorities.
“Funny how the Governor’s executive authority always seems available for everything except giving taxpayers a break,” Miller said.
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller attends a rally with former President Donald Trump at Million Air, a private airplane terminal at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, Friday October 25, 2024.
Jay Janner/American-Statesman
Abbott’s office rejected the argument, saying Chapter 418 does not permit governors to suspend taxes.
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“Chapter 418 of the Texas Government Code is clear: the Governor does not have the power to suspend the gas tax,” Abbott press secretary Andrew Mahaleris said in a statement to the American-Statesman. “The law specifically authorizes the Governor to suspend regulatory statutes, not taxes. Any suggestion that the Texas Governor is authorized by law to suspend a gas tax is entirely uninformed or purposefully misleading.”
Mahaleris added that if governors could suspend taxes broadly, Abbott “would have suspended the property tax years ago.”
Miller disputed that comparison, noting Texas property taxes are imposed by local governments rather than collected directly by the state.
Past disaster actions offer partial precedent
The debate has intensified because Texas governors have previously used disaster powers to temporarily waive some tax-related requirements during emergencies.
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After Hurricane Harvey in 2017, Abbott suspended state and local hotel occupancy taxes for storm evacuees and relief workers. That order relied on a different disaster provision tied specifically to emergency housing.
Jeannie Ralph carries belongings from her house in Smithville after Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Be careful walking in floodwaters. They can be highly contaminated and hide sharp objects.
Jay Janner/Smithville Times
Abbott also temporarily waived portions of the International Fuel Tax Agreement after Harvey, easing tax-reporting requirements for interstate trucking companies delivering fuel and relief supplies into Texas.
More recently, during the 2024 Panhandle wildfires, the Texas Comptroller’s office said the state temporarily waived restrictions on dyed diesel fuel and suspended the 20-cent motor-fuels tax tied to that fuel during the emergency response.
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Those actions, however, were narrower than a blanket suspension of the statewide gas tax for all Texas drivers.
The legal question remains unsettled
Other states have used emergency powers more aggressively during fuel-price spikes.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear sought to reduce that state’s gas tax through an emergency declaration, while Indiana Gov. Mike Braun suspended collection of certain fuel taxes during an energy emergency.
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But those states operate under different laws.
An Exxon on Ben White Boulevard posts prices to passing traffic in Austin as rates continue to rise, April 10, 2026.
Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman
Texas’ disaster statute is written more narrowly, focusing on regulatory statutes, agency rules and emergency-response procedures rather than broad taxing authority.
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The disagreement is likely to remain both a legal and political issue as fuel prices rise and the governor’s race intensifies.