similar argument Tuesday<\/a>.<\/p>\nArticle continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Miller said Abbott has repeatedly used executive authority through \u201cemergency declarations, disaster powers, regulatory actions, or suspending certain rules and regulations\u201d when it aligned with his priorities.<\/p>\n
\u201cFunny how the Governor\u2019s executive authority always seems available for everything except giving taxpayers a break,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n
![\"Texas]()
<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Jay Janner\/American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Abbott\u2019s office rejected the argument, saying Chapter 418 does not permit governors to suspend taxes.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
\u201cChapter 418 of the Texas Government Code is clear: the Governor does not have the power to suspend the gas tax,\u201d Abbott press secretary Andrew Mahaleris said in a statement to the American-Statesman. \u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mahaleris added that if governors could suspend taxes broadly, Abbott \u201cwould have suspended the property tax years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miller disputed that comparison, noting Texas property taxes are imposed by local governments rather than collected directly by the state.<\/p>\n
Past disaster actions offer partial precedent<\/p>\n
The debate has intensified because Texas governors have previously used disaster powers to temporarily waive some tax-related requirements during emergencies.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
![\"Jeannie]()
<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Jay Janner\/Smithville Times<\/p>\n
Abbott also temporarily waived portions of the International Fuel Tax Agreement after Harvey, easing tax-reporting requirements for interstate\u00a0trucking companies delivering fuel and relief supplies into Texas.<\/p>\n
More recently, during the 2024 Panhandle wildfires, the Texas Comptroller\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Those actions, however, were narrower than a blanket suspension of the statewide gas tax for all Texas drivers.<\/p>\n
The legal question remains unsettled<\/p>\n
Other states have used emergency powers more aggressively during fuel-price spikes.<\/p>\n
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear sought to reduce that state\u2019s gas tax through an emergency declaration, while Indiana Gov. Mike Braun suspended collection of certain fuel taxes during an energy emergency.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
But those states operate under different laws.<\/p>\n
![\"An]()
<\/p>\n
An Exxon on Ben White Boulevard posts prices to passing traffic in Austin as rates continue to rise, April 10, 2026.<\/p>\n
Sara Diggins\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Texas\u2019 disaster statute is written more narrowly, focusing on regulatory statutes, agency rules and emergency-response procedures rather than broad taxing authority.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
The disagreement is likely to remain both a legal and political issue as fuel prices rise and the governor\u2019s race intensifies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at a primary election night event hosted by the Young Conservatives of Texas and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":292654,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[72721,27,29,28],"class_list":["post-292653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-dante","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292653","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=292653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292653\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/292654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=292653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=292653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=292653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}