Capito Hopes Tax Policies Help Combat High Gas Prices 

If you plan to fill up your gas tank heading into the weekend – you may want to brace yourself.  

The average price for a gallon of regular gas in West Virginia hit $5.52 on Thursday, according to the AAA travel service which tracks prices nationwide.  

That’s up more than 20 cents from last week, more than $1.50 over this time last year. U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito says it also impacts the cost of groceries and utilities.   

“It is too high, way too high, and also this reflects back on the prices of food, fertilizer and other things, and it also makes our power bills go up at the same time,” Capito said. “So, it’s a huge strain and I think the President today is seeking to find solutions to the Iranian situation.”  

That, Capito said, would allow global oil to begin flowing more easily and bring gas prices back down. But she said tax policies that have been put into place should also help ease pricing pressures. 

“Where we’re paying less taxes, no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security, that helps put more money back in people’s pockets,” Capito said. “We need to keep going with our domestic exploration of our own energy resources to help with the cost of power. There’s things that we’re doing now that hopefully we’ll put into place and ease those pricing pressures.”  

She also said while the president is focused on halting Iran’s nuclear program, she believes affordability is the top priority for most Americans.