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Star News TV
On the first day of a North Carolina General Assembly special session Wednesday, the state House nearly unanimously approved a bill to pause the state gas tax until the start of December.
The measure, which would temporarily end a 41-cent-per-gallon tax, passed the House 111-1 and now heads to the N.C. Senate. Leading Republican lawmakers surprised many when they announced Saturday that they would call the legislature back for a special session this week to address high fuel prices. The bill would also extend North Carolina penalty waivers for farmers' agricultural use of red-dye diesel on roads. The pause is expected to cost the state more than $360 million, which Senate Leader Phil Berger said will be backfilled from the state's inflation reserve so Department of Transportation projects are not impacted.
Berger cautioned that gas prices may not drop 41 cents at the pump overnight, saying once one retailer reduces prices others will follow. Democrats raised questions about the timing of the tax cut, less than a month before the Nov. 3 election, and said it does not go far enough, pushing for additional cost-of-living relief including a proposal aimed at stopping dynamic pricing at grocery stores. Those amendments were not allowed in the measure that passed the House.
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