ATLANTA — Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson is rolling out new proposals aimed at addressing affordability in Georgia, including eliminating the sales tax on utility bills and automatically suspending the state gas tax under certain conditions.
Jackson is proposing eliminating the roughly 4% sales tax on utility bills.
“Keeping the lights on is not a luxury, heating a home is not a luxury, cooling a home in Georgia summers are not a luxury,” Jackson said.
Jackson says eliminating the tax could provide some relief for families facing higher costs.
“If we can help to keep the lights on, it could be the difference between buying groceries today or waiting another week,” Jackson said.
His affordability proposals also include automatically suspending the gas tax if prices increase by 35 cents within seven days or 75 cents within a month because of a conflict or natural disaster.
“I’m not going to pretend that one governor can control every price, but when the government can act to lower a bill it should,” Jackson said.
The proposal comes as gas prices have drawn attention from candidates running for governor amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms has repeatedly called for suspending the gas tax amid the ongoing war in Iran.
A spokesperson for Bottoms responded to Jackson’s proposals by saying Jackson has supported what the spokesperson called President Donald Trump’s cost-raising policies. The spokesperson says Bottoms is focused on lowering costs for Georgians.
Jackson says his proposals are shaped by his own experiences.
“I know what it means to grow up with nothing, and I know what it means to make a dollar stretch,” Jackson said.
The proposals come less than three months before the November midterm elections.
WSB Radio’s Jonathan O’Brien contributed to this story.