House Bill Would Pause Alabama Gas Taxes for Two Months
Written by Brent Wilson on
April 1, 2026
House Bill 655 would suspend Alabama’s state excise taxes on gasoline and motor fuels for two months, giving drivers and other fuel buyers a temporary break at the pump if the proposal becomes law.
The bill was introduced by Rep. Kelvin Lawrence, D-Hayneville, and was read for the first time March 31 before being sent to the House Ways and Means General Fund Committee. Under the proposal, the state tax suspension would run from April 15, 2026, through June 15, 2026. Alabama’s current state excise tax is 30 cents per gallon on gasoline and 31 cents per gallon on diesel fuels.
During that window, those state taxes would not apply to fuel sales covered by the bill. The legislation also allows the Alabama Department of Revenue to adopt rules to carry out the change.
For consumers, the bill is aimed at reducing the state tax portion of the price paid for fuel during the two-month period. For state government, the proposal would mean a temporary loss of revenue that would otherwise come from those per-gallon taxes.
The bill covers two parts of state law, one governing gasoline taxes and another governing motor fuel taxes. In practice, that means both regular gasoline and other taxable motor fuels would be included in the suspension outlined in the legislation.
Alabama lawmakers regularly send tax bills first to a tax-writing committee before a full House vote. If HB655 advances from committee, it would still need approval from the House and Senate before going to the governor.
The proposal says the act would take effect immediately once it becomes law. Even with that language, the actual tax suspension in the bill is set for the period beginning April 15, 2026, and ending June 15, 2026.
Fuel taxes are collected on a per-gallon basis, not as a percentage of the purchase price, so the amount affected by the bill is fixed in the law at 30 cents per gallon for gasoline and 31 cents per gallon for motor fuels. Any change at the pump tied to the bill would come from removing that state tax during the suspension period.
HB655 remains pending before the House Ways and Means General Fund Committee, where lawmakers will decide whether to move the proposal to the full House for debate later in the 2026 regular session.
