Gas prices in the Yellowhammer State are still hitting record highs this week. According to AAA, the average gas price in the state on Monday was $4.20, which is the highest ever recorded in Alabama and 38 cents higher than a month ago.
Gubernatorial candidate Lindy Blanchard not only blamed President Joe Biden for the price increases but also said the current governor was responsible.
Recently on WVNN’s “The Yaffee Program,” Blanchard discussed how high gas prices were hurting average Alabamians and how she planned to alleviate some of the pain at the pump.
“$5.35 a gallon for diesel. That’s directly affecting our farmers,” she said. “We’re a farming state. The people of Alabama are suffering with not only Biden’s inflation but Ivey’s tax hike, and it’s killing us.”
Blanchard said it was past time to suspend the gas tax in Alabama.
“It’s my job in week one to suspend the gas tax,” she said. “That’s what the people of Alabama are telling me.”
The candidate said the voters she had met on the campaign trail were not only hoping she could suspend the gas tax, but they want an end to the grocery tax as well.
“A lot of people cross the state lines to go buy groceries,” she explained, “because there’s no tax. People are hurting in the grocery buggy and filling up the gas tank.”
Blanchard argued that Alabama’s government has enough money to spend and the legislature should be making more of an effort to cut taxes.
“And we have a surplus,” she exclaimed, “and now, of all times, we should be looking at how we can take away some of the taxes and not creating taxation and certainly not creating taxes like the gas tax that was done behind closed doors and in a shady way.”
She emphasized that lower taxes was one way to help grow the economy and encourage more people to move to the Yellowhammer State.
“We’re in competition with the states around us,” she continued, “and it’s easy to look around and we can mimic what they’re doing to create these great environments for people to move into.”
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” Weekdays 9-11am on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee
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