A group of 60 chambers of commerce, construction trade groups, government agencies, and others have signed a letter saying that a gas tax holiday and an annual 2% cap on inflation on the tax would be bad for Virginia and its infrastructure.

The letter from Virginians For Better Transportation was sent Friday in response to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposal for a three-month gas tax holiday from May to August and then a two-month gradual phase-in of the tax.

“We support the Commonwealth’s commitment to easing that burden and helping everyday Virginians make ends meet,” the group wrote. “However, the proposed suspension of the gasoline tax over a period of five months is not an effective way to provide needed relief to Virginia residents.

“Due to the lack of transparency and market fluctuations of gasoline prices, there is no way to guarantee that gasoline tax savings will be passed on to Virginia consumers.”

That may be true. The gas tax is charged by the government during the purchase between the wholesaler and the retailer, not at the pump. Retailers could try to pocket the difference and still charge high prices even if the tax is lifted. In Maryland, one of the first states to pass a holiday, it appears that so far that has not been the case, and consumers are getting a break at the pump.

“History proves gas tax changes are reflected in prices for only a few days and any price relief seen by drivers is a small fraction of what the oil companies should be giving them,” the group writes.

Youngkin said pausing the 26 cents per gallon tax would help families pay for increasingly expensive gas. Gas in Virginia was $1.67 a gallon on average just two years ago. Now it’s at $4.07 a gallon. That’s almost a $37 increase per fill-up for an average 15-gallon vehicle. The gas tax holiday would save only about $4 for each trip; if a driver fills up every week that could be about $50 in savings over the three months.

Youngkin would forgo the tax and instead use $437 million in an unexpected windfall to keep the transportation fund flush. Youngkin’s proposal would also cap the annual adjustment to the gas tax at 2% a year or less. Currently, it’s tied to inflation, which caused the tax to jump from 21 to 26 cents last year.

The Virginia General Assembly is meeting for a special session starting Monday, and they plan to debate the policy then. Virginia Democrats have also pushed back on the idea, including long-time Sen. Dick Saslaw of Fairfax, who used to own gas stations.

The letter writers say the gas tax user fee is “directly reinvested into maintaining and improving our multimodal transportation system including roadways, bridges, ports, airports, rail, transit, bike, pedestrian and transportation technology infrastructure. Capping annual indexing means the revenue source will fail to keep up with the cost of materials and services supporting maintenance and operations of the system.”

Maryland was among the first states to enact a gas tax holiday and the political wrangling was minimal. There, Democrats have a solid majority in the General Assembly and a Republican governor. Republicans control the governor’s mansion and the House, but not the Senate, where Democrats have a 21-19 advantage.

Maryland began a month-long gas tax holiday on March 18th. It used unexpected tax windfalls to plug the transportation fund gap created by the holiday. So far, it appears the holiday is working. The average price of gas plunged almost 38 cents in the days after the holiday went into effect.

Maryland has the nation’s eighth-highest gas tax, at 36 cents a gallon. Virginia’s 26 cent gas tax ranks about 35th.

The full list of signees to the letter is as follows:

ACEC Virginia
Associated General Contractors of Virginia
Heavy Construction Contractors Association
Old Dominion Highway Contractors Association
Precast Concrete Association of Virginia
Sierra Club, Virginia Chapter
Southern Environmental Law Center
The Commonwealth Institute
Virginia AFL-CIO
Virginia Asphalt Association
Virginia Association for Commercial Real Estate
Virginia Bicycling Federation
Virginia Interfaith Power & Light
Virginia Railroad Association
Virginia State Building and Construction Trades Council
Virginia Transit Association
Virginia Transportation Construction Alliance
Virginians for Better Transportation
Virginians for High Speed Rail
ACEC Metro Washington
Active Prince William
Alexandria Chamber of Commerce
Apartment and Office Building Association
Arlington Chamber of Commerce
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and
Trainmen / IBT
Clean Fairfax
Coalition for Smarter Growth
Committee for Dulles
Dulles Area Association of Realtors®
Dulles Area Transportation Association
Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce
Greater McLean Chamber of Commerce
Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce
Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce
Greater Washington Board of Trade
Greater Washington Partnership
Greater Williamsburg Chamber
Hampton Roads Association for Commercial Real Estate
Loudoun Chamber of Commerce
Lynnhaven River NOW
Mount Vernon Lee Chamber
NAIOP Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia Association of Realtors®
Northern Virginia Building Industry Association
Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce
Northern Virginia Technology Council
Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance
Northern Virginia Transportation Authority
Northern Virginia Transportation Commission
Prince William Association of Realtors®
Prince William Chamber of Commerce
Richmond Area Municipal Contractors Association
Rockbridge Area Conservation Council
RVA Rapid Transit
The 2030 Group
Washington Airports Task Force