U.S. Senator Bob Casey, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, is adding his support to legislation that would provide some relief to motorists struggling with high gas prices.
Casey joined with other Democrats in the Senate to announce the Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act, which is designed to curb profiteering by oil companies during situations like the conflict in Ukraine.
The bill would impose a new excise tax on oil extracted or imported by large oil corporations. Revenue raised through the tax on the windfall profits would be returned to consumers through a quarterly rebate.
If large companies had to pay a per-barrel tax of 50 percent of the difference between the current price of oil and the pre-pandemic average price, revenue of approximately $45 billion could be raised this year with every U.S. tax filer receiving between $240 and $360.