Bill cuts federal fuel taxes and tries to stop price gouging.
S. 5530 — Consumer Fuel Costs Relief Act · Filed by Mark Kelly (D-AZ) · Introduced Sep 24, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
The bill stops federal taxes on motor fuel and airplane fuel. The tax cut runs from now through September 30, 2027. The Treasury, FTC, and CFTC must make sure fuel sellers pass the tax cut to buyers. Fuel sellers who do not lower prices face money penalties. Lost tax money goes to highway, airport, and environmental trust funds.
Who it affects
Drivers and airline passengers could pay less for fuel if the price cut works. Fuel producers, refiners, and sellers are told to lower prices or face penalties.
One thing to notice
The bill does not say how big the penalties are or how they will be enforced. On October 1, 2027, fuel taxes snap back to full rates, which could cause prices to jump fast.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
- Sep 24, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Sep 24, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Finance · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- federal fuel taxes — Money the federal government collects on every gallon of motor fuel and airplane fuel sold.
- price gouging — Charging much higher prices than normal, especially during an emergency or shortage.
- trust funds — Money set aside by the government for a specific purpose, like fixing highways or airports.
- FTC — The Federal Trade Commission, a federal agency that stops unfair business practices.
- CFTC — The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a federal agency that watches markets for oil and fuel.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (3,341 characters) on Oct 3, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Bill cuts federal fuel taxes and tries to stop price gouging.” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/s5530/simple Report an error
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