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By Ford Turner | The Morning Call | May 06, 2022 HARRISBURG — Average gasoline prices in Pennsylvania jumped to a new record high of $4.46 a gallon on Friday, and Gov. Tom Wolf said it showed the need to send checks of up to $2,000 to households with annual incomes below $80,000. The previous record high for gasoline in the state was $4.44 a gallon set in early March, and the latest price is about 47% higher than the average of $3.04 a year ago, according to AAA. The price jumped 17 cents in the past week. At the same time, the price of diesel fuel — a factor in the future prices of consumer goods — hit a record on Friday for the fourth consecutive day, at $6.19 a gallon. Wolf, a Democrat, believes the consumer-stressing scenario shows the need for his proposal to use unspent federal pandemic relief to send direct payments of up to $2,000 to lower-income households, according to spokeswoman Beth Rementer. “The governor remains focused on working to provide immediate assistance to Pennsylvanians,” Rementer said. “Pennsylvanians cannot afford to wait for relief.” The Republican-controlled Legislature must approve any plan to spend the roughly $2 billion in American Rescue Plan Act funds the state has set aside. On Friday, Republicans rejected Wolf’s logic. “It is exactly what caused the inflation crisis that we are dealing with: runaway spending that has propped up the economy,” said Jason Gottesman, the House Republicans’ spokesman. “This is a time for fiscal prudence,” Gottesman said, adding, ”This should be concerning to the people of Pennsylvania when we are literally on the precipice of a recession.” Veteran Republican Sen. Mario Scavello of Monroe County said of Wolf, “He wants to be Santa Claus, and that’s okay, but what happens when that money is gone?” Wolf and some lawmakers have called for reductions or temporary suspensions of state and federal gas taxes. Pennsylvania’s price per gallon includes more than 57 cents in state motor fuels taxes and more than 18 cents in federal taxes — creating the third-largest gas tax burden in the nation. Grim inflation indictor In Lehigh County, the latest average price was $4.53 a gallon. It was $4.48 in Northampton County. Tony Iannelli, president and CEO of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce, said Friday that some businesses previously absorbed gas and fuel price increase, believing they were temporary. Now, he said, “I am hearing more and more of them talking about price increases.” That, he said, becomes “yet another piece of the inflation cycle.” The diesel fuel price surge represents a worrisome indicator for future consumer prices. Most goods — and even gasoline itself — are transported to places they are sold in trucks that use diesel fuel. AAA said the average price of diesel fuel was $6.19 on Friday, up 19 cents in three days and more than 80% higher than the $3.43 a gallon price a year earlier. Earlier this week, Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association President and CEO Rebecca Oyler said of the diesel price surge, “Ultimately, it is the general public that pays the cost, through higher priced goods, and sometimes through the unavailability of trucking companies that can’t afford to drive.” Gene Barr, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, said Friday state government may have limited ability to affect the negative trends. There have been calls in Harrisburg to suspend or curtail gasoline taxes. Barr said tax suspensions would produce their own financial damage. The lost revenue, he said, are “dollars that don’t go to roads, bridges, highways, infrastructure.” State Rep. Mike Carroll of Luzerne County, the top Democrat on the House Transportation Committee, said the prices show it’s time to get serious about electric vehicles. The Legislature needs to reform its system for assessing fees on electric vehicle users because, Carroll said, it is “not working well at all.” And, he said, government must prepare for the day when electric vehicles are “a significant part of the fleet in this state.” Carroll indicated he generally agreed with Wolf’s concept of using the ARPA money to help people hurt by gasoline prices.