Third-party Arizona governor candidate calls for state to suspend gas tax

As gas prices continue to rise in Arizona, a third-party candidate for governor accused his Republican and Democratic opponents of failing to meet the moment.

The average cost for a gallon of gas in Arizona has risen by more than $1 per gallon over the past month as oil prices spiked in the wake of the Trump administration’s war against Iran.

Scottsdale businessman Hugh Lytle said Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, who is running for re-election, should prioritize a temporary suspension of the state’s 18 cent per gallon gas tax.

“No bipartisan relief effort has been put together yet, and that creates huge challenges in our life,” said Lytle.

Hobbs wasn’t the only target of Lytle’s ire, though.

He also blamed Congressman Andy Biggs, a Republican candidate for governor, for the gas price spike, citing Biggs’ support for the war in Iran.

“One helped really kind of create the pain — Andy Biggs,” Lytle said. “And one has really done nothing and has failed to respond to the pain.”

Lytle is running for governor as a member of the No Labels Party, which was renamed the Arizona Independent Party until a judge invalidated that name change last week.

Hobbs can’t unilaterally suspend the gas tax, because she needs state lawmakers to sign off on the change first.

And a bill sponsored by Rep. Julie Willoughby (R-Chandler) that would pause the tax from May to October every year in parts of Maricopa and Pinal counties has yet to reach her desk. That measure passed the Arizona House but is currently stalled in the Senate.

According to Senate Republicans, the House Bill 2400 is not advancing “due to a lack of full stakeholder agreement.”

Hobbs recently said she is open to suspending the gas tax but that those conversations should take place during budget negotiations with Republican lawmakers, which are currently on hold and could linger through June.

Lytle called on the governor to take a more active role in pushing lawmakers to pass a gas tax bill.

“I'd like the governor to urge that process to happen,” he said.

And he said Hobbs should act with more urgency.

“If this wasn't something that hit us in our pocketbook immediately, I'd say, ‘OK, I get the dynamic,’” he said. “I don't get the dynamic when people are … budgets are getting blown up and they don't have the money to drive to work.”

Lytle called on the governor to take a more active role in pushing lawmakers to send a gas tax bill to her desk.

“I'd like the governor to urge that process to happen,” he said.

When Willoughby’s gas tax suspension bill moved through the Arizona House, critics expressed concern that suspending Arizona’s fuel tax would hurt the state’s ability to maintain its roads and highways.

That’s because proceeds from the tax go into the Highway User Revenue Fund, or HURF, which is used to build and repair highways and help local governments maintain their roads.

According to the Arizona Department of Transportation, the gas tax contributed $533 million to the Highway User Revenue Fund last fiscal year, about 29% of the fund’s total revenue.

Rep. Patty Contreras (D-Phoenix), who sits on the House Transportation Committee, said the state has a long list of roads and highways in need of repair.

“We are already very, very in a deficit as far as how much money we need for our roads, and to take money from HURF is just not the way to go about this affordability issue,” Contreras said.

Lytle did not offer a solution to replace that lost revenue if the state suspends its gas tax, saying its more important to provide tax relief to Arizonans now.

“You've got to step in for your citizens and then worry about negotiations and tax backfill later,” he said.

Hobbs echoed Contreras’ concerns and pointed out that the state’s gas tax collections are already on the decline as more Arizonans opt for electric vehicles, reducing the funds available to maintain the state’s transportation system.