{"id":240865,"date":"2026-04-08T20:26:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T20:26:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/240865\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T20:26:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T20:26:16","slug":"gov-mike-braun-suspends-gas-usage-tax-after-price-surge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/240865\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov. Mike Braun suspends gas usage tax after price surge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Indiana residents will see a slight price dip at the gas pump after Gov. Mike Braun suspended the 7% gas usage tax Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The state\u2019s 36-cent-a-gallon excise tax remains in place, along with the federal gas tax. The suspension doesn\u2019t affect diesel fuel. Cutting the usage tax brings the cost per gallon down by just over 17 cents.<\/p>\n

Locally on Wednesday, Meijer in Portage sold gas for $4.29 a gallon while warehouse clubs Sam\u2019s and Costco were at $3.84, according to Gasbuddy.<\/p>\n

Revenue from the usage tax is used for local and state road construction. Braun pegged the loss to the state at about $50 million but said it wouldn\u2019t disrupt major state road projects.<\/p>\n

Braun\u2019s signing of an emergency declaration comes after gas prices soared across the globe after President Donald Trump launched a war, along with Israel, against Iran. The average cost of gas per gallon in Indiana jumped from $2.80 a gallon to $4.13, according to AAA.<\/p>\n

In response to the strikes by the U.S. and Israel, Iranian forces blocked the critical Strait of Hormuz, its main waterway for ships to transport oil. The uncertainty of the oil supply raised prices globally.<\/p>\n

\"GovernorIndiana Gov. Mike Braun speaks to local officials at the Emergency Operations Center in Lake Village during a tour of the tornado-damaged area on Thursday, March 12, 2026. Indiana residents will see a slight price dip at the gas pump after Braun suspended the 7% gas usage tax Wednesday. (Kyle Telechan\/for the Post-Tribune)<\/p>\n

Braun, who praised Trump for negotiating a two-week ceasefire, said the order could be extended if the emergency continued.<\/p>\n

Braun, an ally of Trump, didn\u2019t mention the war until seven minutes into his news conference.<\/p>\n

Indiana\u2019s combined gas tax of about 72 cents ranks the state among the nation\u2019s highest.\u00a0 Indiana\u2019s gas tax ranks No. 5 nationwide, according to a recent Kiplinger report.<\/p>\n

Republicans applauded Braun\u2019s move, but state Democratic Party Chair Karen Tallian leveled criticism.<\/p>\n

\u201cGas prices are up over a dollar per gallon and Braun\u2019s solution is to give us back 17 cents? This is yet another 17-cent idea from a 17% approval rating governor,\u201d said Tallian in a release.<\/p>\n

\"FormerFormer State Senator Karen Tallian, an Ogden Dunes resident, is chair of the Indiana Democratic Party. (Photo courtesy of the Indiana Democratic Party)<\/p>\n

\u201cRepublicans are letting oil companies use this crisis to jack up prices at the same time they screw over BP refinery workers<\/a> in Northwest Indiana,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Senate Pro Tem President Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, said: \u201cRepublicans have led on issues of affordability for years, resulting in one of the lowest costs of living in the country for Hoosiers, but the recent spike in gas prices is still leaving many Hoosiers feeling undue pressure on their budgets.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith affordability top of mind right now, I\u2019m supportive of temporarily suspending the state\u2019s sales tax on gas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. Dan Dernulc, R-Highland, joined other GOP senators in urging Braun to issue the declaration.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition to our work this session on cutting taxes, this is a solid next step in making life more affordable for all those in Indiana. Suspending the gas tax is a tangible way for Hoosiers to feel relief from the rising cost of living,\u201d said Dernulc.<\/p>\n

Sen. Rodney Pol, D-Chesterton, blamed the war in Iran. \u201cThe need for this relief is due to Trump spending billions in a totally unnecessary war that has strangled the flow of oil overseas while BP locks out 800 refinery workers here at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Indiana residents will see a slight price dip at the gas pump after Gov. Mike Braun suspended the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":240866,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[150,152,151,92345,92346,91530,92347,92348,17146,10743,92349,251,92350,92351,223,287,92352,92353,92344,92354],"class_list":{"0":"post-240865","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arlington","8":"tag-arlington","9":"tag-arlington-headlines","10":"tag-arlington-news","11":"tag-crown-point","12":"tag-east-chicago","13":"tag-gary","14":"tag-griffith","15":"tag-hammond","16":"tag-highland","17":"tag-indiana","18":"tag-lake-county","19":"tag-local-news","20":"tag-merrillville","21":"tag-munster","22":"tag-news","23":"tag-politics","24":"tag-portage","25":"tag-porter-county","26":"tag-post-tribune","27":"tag-valparaiso"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=240865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240865\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/240866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}