RALEIGH – North Carolina legislative leaders say they plan to call a special session focused on relief from high gasoline and diesel prices, but they have not announced a date, bill text or fiscal impact.
House Speaker Destin Hall and Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger announced the plan Oct. 3 in similarly worded social-media posts. Hall said rising fuel costs are pressuring family budgets and farmers, while Berger said the session would seek relief for North Carolinians facing high gasoline and diesel prices.
Spectrum News reported that neither leader specified when lawmakers would return and that more details would be announced. The leaders also did not identify a proposed relief mechanism.
One Republican legislator, Rep. Allen Chesser of Nash County, said lawmakers should consider suspending the state gasoline tax, according to Spectrum News. That suggestion was not presented as an agreed leadership proposal, and no legislation or fiscal analysis had been released as of Oct. 4.
North Carolina had already provided state penalty relief through the end of 2026 for certain on-road use of red-dyed diesel, according to the Governor’s Office. The state action is aimed at agricultural producers during harvest; federal penalty relief remained a separate request.
The business consequence will depend on the policy lawmakers ultimately propose. Fuel-cost relief could affect farmers, trucking companies, retailers and consumers statewide, while a fuel-tax change could also affect transportation revenue. Without bill text, the size and distribution of any benefit cannot yet be calculated.