Georgia Legislature Begins Special Session On Gas-Tax Break
Governor Also Setting Up Web Site To Report Gas Gouging
POSTED: Tuesday, September 6, 2005
ATLANTA -- A special legislative session begins Monday in Atlanta where lawmakers will be asked to ratify the monthlong moratorium on state gas taxes that Gov. Sonny Perdue ordered on Friday.
The governor's order suspends Georgia's 7.5 cents-a-gallon excise tax and the 4 percent sales tax on gasoline until the end of September. He also signed an executive order authoritizing state sanctions against gas stations that gouge consumers.
The session will cost the state $165,000. It is scheduled to run through Saturday.
Besides the gas tax issues, lawmakers will discuss whether to increae the mileage paid to state employees who use their vehicles for government business.
The governor's office is also in the process of setting up a Web site,
GasGouger.org, to allow concerned residents to report possible price gouging.
The site is still under construction, but state officials hope it will make it easier to track the hundreds of complaints the Georgia Office of Consumer Affairs already has received.
Perdue signed an executive order last week authorizing state sanctions against gas stations that gouge consumers. He said he was "embarrassed" that he had to take action, but he was concerned by the rush of consumers to gas stations throughout the state.
Gas prices in Georgia skyrocketed to as high as $6 a gallon after Hurricane Katrina made landfall and long lines of anxious drivers stretched outside some stations.
Copyright 2005 by News4Jax.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.