Stimulus checks go right into gas tanks, study says

By Marc Kovac

The average Ohio household has spent about $1,500 on gasoline since February, according to the study.

COLUMBUS — Most families have pumped their federal economic stimulus checks into their gas tanks, according to a study released in Columbus on Wednesday.

“In the 19-week span since the economic stimulus bill was signed into law, American families have spent their entire stimulus checks paying for gasoline,” said Peter Schanz, citizen outreach director for the Ohio Public Interest Research Group, a research organization that works to “uncover threats to public health and well-being and fight to end them,” according to its Web site (www.ohiopirg.org).

He added, “Without an increased federal commitment to increase public transportation, American families will continue to be stuck in neutral, spending more and more just paying to drive around.”

The group’s study, titled “Squandering the Stimulus,” analyzed household gasoline spending, in light of per-gallon costs hovering above $4.

Since Congress finalized its economic stimulus package earlier this year, the average weekly fuel costs per household have risen to $100 from about $60. That means that the average Ohio household has spent about $1,500 on gasoline since February, according to the study.

During a press conference near the Statehouse, Ohio PIRG illustrated those costs with an oversized tax rebate check, made out to Big Oil, and urged lawmakers to provide increased funding for public transportation, including adding pedestrian and bicycle paths and lanes, increasing bus routes and investing in light rail systems.

“Unless we make it easier to drive less, it won’t matter how many rebate checks the Treasury issues American families,” Schanz said. “We will still be depositing them over to big oil rather than building America’s prosperity.”

mkovac@dixcom.com