FALL RIVER ─ Two of Fall River’s three state representatives voted Wednesday to suspend the state’s 24-cent-per-gallon gas tax, but the effort failed in the Massachusetts House, 30-121.
The vote came on Amendment #160, titled “Gas Tax Holiday,” to H.5699, the House’s $2.35 billion supplemental budget to close out fiscal year 2026. Filed by Rep. Todd Smola (R-Warren) and cosponsored by every House Republican, including Somerset’s Rep. Justin Thurber and Seekonk’s Rep. Steven Howitt, plus Democrat Colleen Garry of Dracut, the amendment would have suspended the 24-cent state tax on gasoline and diesel for 60 days.
The amendment required gas stations to lower their prices by the full amount of the tax, made failing to do so an unfair or deceptive trade practice under state consumer protection law, and would have replaced the lost transportation money with a transfer from the Education and Transportation Fund, which is paid for by the state’s surtax on incomes over $1 million.
How Fall River’s representatives voted
- Rep. Alan Silvia (D-7th Bristol): Yes
- Rep. Steven Ouellette (D-8th Bristol): Yes
- Rep. Carole Fiola (D-6th Bristol): No
Silvia and Ouellette were two of only five Democrats who voted for the suspension, joining 25 Republicans. All 121 votes against it came from Democrats, and six members did not vote, according to MassVoter.
The split fits each lawmaker’s record. In the current 2025-2026 session, Silvia has been on the losing side of 13 of the 143 divided roll calls he voted on, more than either of his Fall River colleagues; he also voted against the House’s 2024 gun law and two bills this year that passed by wide margins. Ouellette has been on the losing side 3 times in 174 divided votes. Fiola has not been on the losing side of a single divided vote this session (0 of 166), or in the two sessions before it. With Democrats holding the vast majority of House seats, the losing side of a divided vote is usually the side opposed by House Democratic leadership.
Fall River is split among three House districts, so which representative you have depends on your street. You can see how every member of the House voted, and look up your own representative, on MassVoter’s page for this vote.
Later Wednesday, the House passed the supplemental budget 143-8, without the gas tax holiday. All three Fall River representatives voted for it.
How we got here
Gov. Maura Healey proposed a two-month suspension of the gas tax in September, saying surplus tax revenue would cover the cost without hurting transportation funding. The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance estimated it would have saved drivers about $120 million.
The House Ways and Means Committee left the suspension out of its version of the budget this week. Chairman Aaron Michlewitz called it “a gimmick” and said “the numbers just don’t add up,” questioning whether wholesalers and distributors would pass the 24 cents on to drivers and warning that the lost revenue could cut into money for transportation projects and the MBTA. He said real relief would come “when the president of the United States ends this meaningless war.”
Healey said she was disappointed. “I am going to keep fighting for it,” she said.
Republican candidate for governor Mike Minogue called the House’s move “a political stunt, pure and simple.”
The statewide average price of gas was about $4.28 a gallon this week, according to AAA.
A similar gas tax suspension amendment failed 132-25 during budget debate in April.
What’s next
The Senate will take up its own version of the supplemental budget, and the two chambers will need to agree on a final bill. Michlewitz has said he hopes to send a compromise to Healey by Nov. 15.
