Saying that Illinois motorists deserve relief from high fuel prices, House Republicans on Tuesday called on their Democratic counterparts to allow debate on a plan to temporarily lift the state sales tax on gasoline.

Their request, which they say would save the average consumer about $45 in a three-month period, was not granted. And a key Democratic House member, Rep. Lou Lang of Skokie, accused Republicans of talking about gasoline prices only "as a political issue."

Lang made the remark after Republicans unsuccessfully tried to pry their proposal, House Bill 6318, from the House Rules Committee. The Rules Committee, the first stop for all bills that reach the House, decides what bills should be advanced for consideration.

The bill has remained in the Rules Committee since March. It would grant a "gas tax holiday" through Sept. 15, meaning that the state’s 5 percent portion of the 6.25 percent sales tax on gasoline would be suspended. Lawmakers and then-Gov. George Ryan took the same action for six months in the second half of 2000.

Republicans’ attempt on Tuesday to "discharge" their bill out of the Rules Committee was thwarted when Lang objected to it. Under House operational rules, unanimous consent is required to discharge a measure from the Rules Committee.

Republicans, pointing out that gasoline costs about $4 a gallon, expressed frustration with the outcome.

"Are you afraid of the debate?" asked Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro.

Rep. Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth, said that saving 20 cents a gallon - as supporters of the gas tax holiday estimate - might not seem like much to "elitists from the University of Chicago," but it would mean a lot to his constituents.

At a State Capitol news conference earlier Tuesday, Mitchell said: "We have to give working families a break" from high gasoline prices.

Rolling back the state sales tax on gasoline also would benefit the trucking industry, Bost said. Truckers would stop their current practice of avoiding the purchase of fuel in Illinois, he said.

Lawmakers differed in their recollections of how well the 2000 sales tax holiday on gasoline worked.

Republicans said it did what it was supposed to: save money for consumers.

But Lang said it did little to benefit consumers.

"Maybe they saved a cent or two a gallon, but the evidence is not clear," he said. "What is clear is it cost the state of Illinois and local municipalities millions and millions of dollars because we took that gas tax off. It did not save the gas tax payers any money."

A report issued in late 2000 by the General Assembly’s bipartisan Economic and Fiscal Commission said that gasoline prices dropped after the sales tax was lifted. But the report also said it was impossible to determine whether the savings were passed on to motorists.

Adriana Colindres can be reached at (217) 782-6292 or adriana.colindres@sj-r.com.