INDIANAPOLIS – Analysts predict that thanks to spiking gas prices, Americans will spend $1 billion on fuel this Memorial Day weekend alone – and no one will feel more pain than Hoosiers, who have the largest average increase in gas prices nationwide thanks to Rep. Braun’s tax hike.

The rising cost of gas may cause many Americans to regret their travel plans this holiday weekend, as gas prices will be 58 cents higher on average than last Memorial Day. Gas prices are currently at their highest average price since November 2014, according to national fuel consumer reports website GasBuddy.

Those soaring gas prices are having an impact on Americans’ lives. Analysis from the Washington Post points out that many Americans who had hoped to see a bump in their paycheck due to the McConnell tax plan will now see such benefits wiped out due to the spike in gas prices. At current prices, Americans in the lowest income bracket will pay three to four times more just from the increase in gasoline costs since January than they’ve received from the McConnell tax plan.

Indiana will feel more pain at the pump than any other state, for which Hoosiers can thank Rep. Braun and Statehouse Republicans. Hoosiers currently are facing the largest year-on-year gas price increase in the nation, which the AP largely blamed this week on last year’s gas tax hike. Indiana gasoline currently costs $2.84 per gallon on average, 66 cents more than a year ago.

“As Americans spend $1 billion on gas this holiday weekend, they can thank Republicans like Rep. Braun for sending the cost of gas skyrocketing and wiping out any tax savings they’d hoped to take home in their paychecks,” said Michael Feldman, spokesman for the Indiana Democratic Party. “Hoosiers paying the fastest-increasing gas prices in the nation to get out of town ought to realize that they have no one to blame for their pain at the pump besides Rep. Braun and his painful gas tax hike.”

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