State and federal gas taxes account for 11% of the average retail price. Rising energy costs have affected businesses and consumers across the board, and even before the recent rise in gas prices, 80% of small businesses called energy costs a significant factor in their operations.

In an opinion piece published in the Washington Examiner, NFIB Principal of Federal Government Relations, Louis Bertolotti, explores the energy challenges facing small businesses and how Congress suspending the federal fuel tax would give small business owners immediate relief. When energy costs are low, small businesses have more certainty and freedom to invest in operations, boosting their local economies and allowing them to continue producing the goods and services that power our country.

The current federal excise gas tax is 18.3 cents per gallon of gasoline and 24.3 cents per gallon of diesel. Several governors have already suspended this tax to provide relief for their state’s small businesses and consumers. Congress must follow suit to ease the burden and provide immediate relief to small businesses.

Read the full opinion editorial on rising energy costs and why it is imperative Congress acts quickly.