Press Release From MO House of Representatives:
WENTZVILLE, Mo. — State Representative Tricia Byrnes (R-Wentzville) today called on Governor Mike Kehoe to convene a special session of the Missouri General Assembly to suspend the state motor fuel tax through December 31, 2026, giving Missouri families immediate relief as gas prices top $4.17 a gallon — up more than $1.30 from a year ago. Byrnes will draft legislation that allows for a temporary suspension of the gas tax through the end of this year and is calling on fellow House members to join her in the effort.
The bill would suspend Missouri’s full 29.5-cent-per-gallon state gas tax for seven months, saving the average Missouri driver $1.63 to $3.84 per fill-up and a family with two vehicles up to $69 per month. A companion appropriations bill would direct General Revenue funds to the State Road Fund to hold MoDOT, cities, and counties harmless during the suspension period.
“Missouri families are paying more than $1.30 extra on every gallon compared to this time
last year. The legislature raised this tax without a public vote in 2021. We can pause it
without a public vote. I’m drafting a bill and I’m asking Governor Kehoe to call us back to
Jefferson City to pass it.” — Rep. Tricia Byrnes (R-District 63)
Byrnes’s call comes as President Donald Trump has endorsed suspending the federal gas tax and U.S. Senator Josh Hawley introduced the Gas Tax Suspension Act on May 12, which would pause the 18.4 cent federal gas tax and 24.4-cent diesel tax for up to 180 days. If both the federal and state suspensions pass, Missouri families would save nearly 48 cents on every gallon pumped.
“President Trump is fighting for relief in Washington. Senator Hawley is pushing the bill at the federal level. I’m not going to sit on my hands here in Missouri,” Byrnes said. “Families will be driving more this summer and we can do this. Missouri families can’t wait.”
Byrnes pointed to Missouri’s strong State Road Fund reserve — currently holding $1.655 billion — as proof that a seven-month suspension would not harm the state’s roads or bridges. She also noted that the General Assembly has appropriated nearly $5 billion in General Revenue funds to MoDOT over the past six years — including $2.8 billion to widen Interstate 70 through her own district in Wentzville — as precedent for using General Revenue to supplement transportation funding during the moratorium.
“We found nearly $5 billion in General Revenue for MoDOT over the last six years. We can find the money to give Missouri families a break at the pump this summer and fall,” Byrnes said. “MoDOT has $1.65 billion in reserve. Our roads will be fine.”
SHE HAS DONE THIS BEFORE
This is not the first time Byrnes has taken on inflated gas prices in her district — and won.
In the summer of 2022, as families across Missouri were already struggling under record inflation, Byrnes noticed something that nobody in the news or local government seemed willing to say out loud: gas stations in Wentzville were charging 30 to 50 cents more per gallon than stations just a few miles away in neighboring communities along the same Interstate 70 corridor.
Before sunrise one morning, Byrnes got in her car and drove the corridor exit by exit, photographing prices at station after station. What she documented was hard to explain away — Wentzville families were being charged dramatically more than their neighbors simply because they lived near a major highway interchange.
Byrnes posted the side-by-side photos on social media and publicly challenged the pricing gap. The posts spread rapidly across the region and quickly drew media attention.
“I think this “Gas Tax Holiday” is a great idea…and helping people save money on gas is
nothing new for Tricia. I’m still amazed at how she stopped the overcharging in Wentzville
back in 2022 and saving us almost .30 cents a gallon now would be huge for families in our
area!” — Mayor Nick Guccione, Wentzville
Within hours of Byrnes calling out the disparity publicly, major gas brands in Wentzville began lowering prices — nearly overnight. Families who had been overpaying for months got immediate relief. Three years later, Byrnes is taking the same instinct — see a problem, name it, demand action — to the state level.
THE STATE CAN AFFORD IT — AND HAS ALREADY SET THE PRECEDENT
Byrnes is proposing that a companion appropriations bill direct General Revenue funds to Missouri’s State Road Fund to fully offset what MoDOT, cities, and counties would have collected during the seven month suspension — estimated at up to $700 million. She argues the state’s strong fiscal position and its own recent spending history make that ask straightforward.
Over the past six years, the Missouri General Assembly has appropriated nearly $5 billion in General Revenue directly to MoDOT — funding I-70’s widening from Blue Springs to Wentzville, the Forward 44 improvement program on Interstate 44, two rounds of rural road repair, bridge replacements, and railroad crossing upgrades. That spending broke with decades of tradition in which General Revenue was considered off-limits for transportation.
“For six years we’ve been writing MoDOT billion-dollar checks out of General Revenue.
That was the right call to fix our roads. Now I’m asking us to write one check for $713
million to give the families who drive those roads a break at the pump. We found nearly $5
billion for highways. Surely this summer we can find $700 million for the people who fill up
on them.” — Rep. Tricia Byrnes
Missouri’s State Road Fund currently holds a reserve balance of $1.655 billion. The state’s General Revenue fund, despite recent draw-downs driven in part by extraordinary transportation investment, still carries a balance of approximately $4.3 billion. A $713 million offset represents roughly 16% of the Road Fund reserve — and the same legislature that approved billions for MoDOT has every tool it needs to act.
A BRIDGE TO STABILITY — NOT A PERMANENT CHANGE
Byrnes framed the December 31 end date as deliberate. The moratorium is designed to carry Missouri families through the most painful stretch of the current energy price spike and expire at a natural breaking point — when the conflict driving global oil prices higher is expected to wind down and markets begin to stabilize.
“This isn’t a permanent change to the tax code. It’s a bridge,” Byrnes said. “By the time this holiday ends on December 31, we expect the conflict that caused this crisis to be winding down and oil prices to be returning to normal levels. We are asking families to hold on through a temporary emergency — the least we can do is remove the state’s own tax from their backs while they do it.”
The bill contains an automatic sunset provision, restoring the full 29.5-cent tax on January 1, 2027, with no additional legislative action required.
THE NUMBERS
Missouri average gas price today
$4.17 / gallon
Year-over-year increase in Missouri
+$1.30 per gallon
Savings per fill-up (full 29.5-cent suspension)
$3.84 per fill-up
Family w/ 2 cars, 6 fill-ups/month
$69/month savings
Byrnes is asking House members who voted against the 2021 gas tax increase — which passed 104 to 52 — to join her as co-sponsors of the moratorium bill. She is also calling on the Missouri Truckers Association, Missouri Farm Bureau, and Americans for Prosperity Missouri to stand with Missouri families in demanding immediate relief.
“In 2022 I drove the interstate before sunrise to expose what was happening to families in my district, and prices came down overnight once we named it publicly,” Byrnes said. “I’m doing the same thing now at the state level. Gas is $4.17. We have $4.3 billion in General Revenue, $1.65 billion in MoDOT’s reserve, and a six-year track record of sending billions to MoDOT from General Revenue. We have every tool we need. What we need now is the will to use them for families instead.”
