Gas prices at a gas station along Southern Artery in Quincy on Tuesday. Photo: Jim MacKay/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — After a months-long climb, average gas prices in Massachusetts have finally breached the $5 per gallon mark, according to the latest numbers from AAA. Average prices per gallon rose 27 cents in just a week to put the state average over the top.
Prices had been stable at about $4.73 a gallon for about two weeks in the lead-up to Memorial Day, but began to climb shortly after. The organization says high demand after the holiday weekend and the high cost of crude oil is behind the current surge.
Democratic political leadership in the state legislature has shown little appetite for suspending the state gas tax in response to the high prices.
"We keep hearing these cries for immediate relief, 'eliminate the gas tax,' and all that... The gas tax has proven to be, as the Senate Speaker alluded to in Connecticut, a myth," State House Speaker Ron Mariano told WBZ's Karyn Regal (@Karynregal) on Monday. Mariano said Connecticut has seen little benefit from suspending its own gas tax. Average prices there have jumped 24 cents in a week to an average of $4.92 on Tuesday.
Critics like the Mass. Fiscal Alliance have urged the state legislature to suspend the tax.
Nationwide, the average price for a gallon of regular gas was $4.91 on Tuesday.
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