As US gas prices hit record high, Whitmer touts savings for Michigan drivers
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer touted more money in drivers' pockets on Monday as the U.S. gas price average hit an all-time record high. Drivers were paying an average of $4.10 per gallon as of Monday afternoon, according to tech company GasBuddy. The rise in prices comes in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Michigan has set a 2022 high for gas prices, which have soared 60 cents from this time last month to now, according to data from AAA. Prices themselves vary wildly across the state and even within the same city, with the cost per gallon being anywhere from $3.87 to $4.25 in Grand Rapids at the beginning of the week.
“You feel it. You feel it in your pocket, says Irma Chavez, a Grand Rapids resident. “[I want] to ask the government, you know, to please put the gas down.”
Whitmer addressed ways her administration is putting money back in Michiganders' pockets at a news conference on Monday, announcing that $400 car insurance refund checks should start arriving in mailboxes this week. That refund comes from a surplus in funds for the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association.
“It’s a huge chunk of change that Michiganders are getting back, at a time frankly where we need it,” Whitmer said.
When asked if Whitmer had any plans to try to decrease gas prices in Michigan, such as a putting in place a moratorium on gas taxes, Whitmer said she has voiced support for a moratorium out of D.C. and noted the $400 refund checks.
“Today’s action in combination with the lower rates, in combination with the proposals to eliminate a retirement tax and increase the EITC (Earned Income Tax Credit ) - these are all ways that we can support consumers in Michigan and that's something that will continue to be a north star for the work that I do,” she said.
For some in Michigan, gas prices are the least of their concerns.
Olena Poplavska moved from Ukraine nine years ago, and much of her family remains in the country.
“My 84-year-old grandma hides in her cellar from every air raid alarm and my hometown has them six to eight times a day,” said Poplavska.
- Latest on Russian invasion of Ukraine: 1.5 million refugees from Ukraine worst post-WWII crisis, UN says
She said she has three children and a budget, and the prices will hurt her family.
“We’ve been in such a daze for the last 12 days that nothing really matters right now as long as people that I love are alive," she said. "I want people to understand that it might be worth it.”
Follow political reporter Rachel Louise Just on Twitter and Facebook. Send tips to rjust@sbgtv.com.
