Governor Mike Braun Extends Indiana Gas Tax Suspension for Fifth Consecutive Month

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Governor Mike Braun has executed a fifth consecutive executive order extending the state's suspension of motor fuel taxes through October 5, declaring an ongoing statewide energy emergency to shield Hoosier commuters, agricultural freight operators, and logistics fleets from global oil price volatility.

The administrative order temporarily eliminates both components of Indiana's fuel taxation structure: the seven-percent Gasoline Use Tax and the flat Gasoline Excise Tax. Combined, the dual suspension provides retail consumers with an estimated savings of 58.9 to 62 cents per gallon at service station pumps across the state, representing one of the most aggressive executive tax-relief measures enacted nationwide.

Governor Braun initially implemented a partial fuel tax suspension in April following abrupt crude oil supply shocks and renewed geopolitical volatility in the Middle East. After expanding the relief in May to encompass the full excise tax, the administration has utilized statutory emergency energy authorities to renew the holiday in thirty-day increments, circumventing standard legislative calendar requirements.

Speaking from the Statehouse in Indianapolis, Governor Braun defended the recurring executive extension as an essential inflation buffer for working families facing compounding pressures from grocery costs and residential utility rates.

“Hoosier families and small business owners deserve every measure of financial relief we can provide while global energy markets remain turbulent,” Governor Braun said in an executive statement. “By extending our fuel tax suspension into October, we are keeping nearly sixty cents per gallon directly in the pockets of hardworking drivers, reducing operating friction for our agricultural haulers, and ensuring Indiana remains the most affordable place in the Midwest to live and do business.”

While the recurring gas tax holiday has drawn broad praise from consumer advocacy organizations and retail fuel associations, legislative fiscal analysts and transportation policy experts have raised operational questions regarding long-term revenue replenishment for the state's Highway Road and Bridge Fund. Fuel taxes represent the primary dedicated revenue source for state and municipal road maintenance, repaving projects, and bridge rehabilitation throughout Indiana's ninety-two counties.

To prevent municipal and state infrastructure deficits, the Braun administration has backfilled forgone highway revenues by tapping surplus reserves from the state's General Fund, which closed the prior fiscal year with over $2.5 billion in unallocated balances. Administration budget officials emphasized that dedicated transportation trust funds will remain fully capitalized without postponing planned capital improvement projects or local street preservation grants.

Indiana remains one of only a handful of states that imposes both a sales usage tax and a volumetric excise tax on retail motor fuel. Under Indiana statutory law, an executive energy emergency declaration carries a maximum single-order lifespan, requiring renewed gubernatorial determinations of market disruption to maintain tax suspensions. With the general assembly scheduled to reconvene for organizational sessions later this autumn, legislative leaders are preparing to debate whether the temporary tax suspensions should be transitioned into statutory rate adjustments during the 2027 biennial budget session.