RICHMOND, Va. — Friday afternoon, drivers filled the gas station at the corner of Boush Street and W. Olney Road in Norfolk.
There, some people drove away after seeing the price of $4.49 a gallon just for regular gas. Other people groaned when filling up their tanks, watching the number on the screen go up and up.
We've heard these groans and complaints before, but economic experts say we could be hearing them throughout the summer season. JP Morgan Chase analysts predict regular gas prices could jump to more than $6 a gallon by the middle of this summer.
"It is what it is," said Sacha Konikoff, who filled up her tank Friday afternoon.
The Norfolk resident said she's getting ready to head off to college after this summer. Originally, she took her summer job to save up for what lies ahead of her school career, but now she's working extra hard to save up just to fill up.
"When I started driving, I could fill up my tank for $32, but now it's like 60-something. It's double the price," said Konikoff. "I lifeguard in the summer, but it's still not enough money to figure it out. I'm going to have to work more jobs for it."
As gas prices keep moving up, Virginia lawmakers are at a standstill.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin proposed a gas tax holiday bill, which would suspend the gas tax for three months. The Senate voted against it, and the bill still sits in the Republican House of Delegates.
Democrats and Republicans said they are still working to agree on how to give Virginians some financial relief by this June.
In the past, Delegate Eileen Filler-Corn has pushed for a direct tax rebate for Virginians. Legislators still couldn't come to an agreement and are currently at an impasse.
However, Filler-Corn said she's working with other lawmakers to determine how they could fit a direct tax rebate into the state budget.
"Part of the negotiations right now includes this tax rebate across the board for working Virginians, working families," said Filler-Corn. "Democrats in the Senate are working hard to make sure that that happens."
Filler-Corn said she wants direct rebates to help cover overall expenses everyone has struggled with, not just gas prices. She said she believes this is better than Youngkin's proposal to suspend the gas tax for three months.
"Whether you're talking about fully funding the EITC [Earned Income Tax Credit], which would allow more money in the pockets of working families, or reducing the cost of childcare and pre-K," she said.
Leaders with the governor's office said Youngkin is still pushing for both a grocery and gas tax to give Virginians relief in the upcoming budget. They sent the following statement:
"The Democratic leadership does not understand what's going on in Virginians' lives. We've got runaway inflation on the grocery shelf, at the gas pump, and in their utility bills. Every aspect of their lives is seeing cost pressure. Yes, it's driven by terrible policies out of Washington. Virginians are feeling it every day. And the best way that we can provide relief is to cut taxes, and we should cut taxes where they're incurred, at the gas pump, on the grocery aisle, in filing taxes where we can double the standard deduction, and we can provide a massive tax refund because we've overtaxed people.”
At this point in the discussions among lawmakers, Filler-Corn said it's not clear yet how much money they want to include in the direct rebates or how many rebates they can offer and to whom. However, she specified she wanted to provide rebates to all working individuals and families.
Filler-Corn's team said lawmakers hope to come to a decision and finally make progress in early June.
Virginia's current fiscal year ends on June 30.