Georgia, Indiana and Utah have paused or reduced their state gasoline taxes, and some bipartisan support is emerging for halting the federal gas tax as prices remain high at the pump.
Is Wisconsin considering suspending its tax of 30.9 cents per gallon of gas or diesel?
State law doesn’t allow the governor to singlehandedly suspend the gas tax and create a “holiday” – a period of time when consumers wouldn’t have to pay it.
Instead, it must be introduced as legislation in the state Capitol, and Gov. Tony Evers would have to sign it. No lawmakers have introduced a bill to do that, and it looks unlikely to happen in 2026. Evers, asked May 11 if he was considering a gas tax holiday, declined the idea, saying “where we are now is a good place.”
Work is likely done in the state Capitol as lawmakers focus on their fall campaigns. A $1.8 billion tax relief and school funding deal failed to pass in a special session this week, and a gas tax holiday wasn’t included in that plan.
Joel Brennan, a Democratic candidate for governor, recently pitched a 30-day gas tax holiday. Another Democrat in the race – Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley – dismissed that idea in a WISN-TV interview and says the revenue is needed for local infrastructure.
Here’s what to know about the state gas tax in Wisconsin and any previous efforts to suspend it:
How much is Wisconsin’s gas tax, and what is it used for?
Wisconsin’s motor vehicle fuel tax – which includes gasoline, gasoline blended with ethanol, and diesel – is 30.9 cents per gallon.
Wisconsin’s first enacted a gas tax in 1925 at a rate of two cents per gallon. In the 1980s, the state created a formula that adjusted the tax each year based on changes to the Consumer Price Index. A 2005 law repealed that formula, and the gas tax rate hasn’t changed since 2006.
The fuel tax is the largest source of revenue for the state’s transportation fund, a huge pot of money used to improve highways, roads, bridges and other infrastructure. Fees for driver’s licenses, vehicle titles and specialty license plates also go into that fund.
In 2023-24, the gas tax made up nearly 37% of the money going into the fund, totaling more than $1 billion. In March 2026 alone, drivers paying the gas and diesel tax generated more than $81 million for the fund.
A 2025 analysis from the Tax Foundation found Wisconsin’s gas tax ranked 20th-highest in the nation, with California and Illinois ranking highest and second-highest.
Since 2025, electric vehicle owners in Wisconsin have to pay a 3-cent tax per kilowatt-hour of electricity, a law intended to ensure all drivers contribute to road maintenance costs.
The federal gas tax is 18.4 cents per gallon, and 24.3 cents for diesel.
Has Wisconsin ever held a gas tax holiday?
No. The Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau couldn’t find a time in the state’s history when the gas tax was suspended.
Republicans pitched the idea in 2005, but their bill didn’t pass. The bill would have suspended the tax for 30 days. After that, the governor could extend it for another 30 days through an executive order, and the tax would phase back in gradually.
At the time, the state Department of Transportation estimated the bill would create a $214 million gap in the transportation fund over two years if the tax was paused for 60 days and phased back in.
Wisconsin has little history with tax holidays. The state held one in 2018, waiving the sales tax on back-to-school items in early August, a practice used in several states. Lawmakers have pitched bringing that idea back with little success.
(This story was updated to add information.)
Hope Karnopp can be reached at HKarnopp@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Some states are waiving gas taxes as prices soar. Could Wisconsin?
Reporting by Hope Karnopp, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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