Fact-check: Did Phil Berger flip on fuel tax suspension?

This week, our Fact Check looks at the state Senate leader’s apparent flip on a suspension of the state’s gas tax, which Gov. Josh Stein signed into law Friday. Earlier this year, Republican Phil Berger indicated he was against a suspension as a way to offset high fuel prices. Last week, though, he led the charge to do just that. For more, Paul Specht of WRAL joined WFAE’s Marshall Terry.

Marshall Terry: The law suspends the 41-cents-a-gallon tax through the end of November. Let’s go back to May. What did Senate Leader Berger say then about suspending the tax?

Paul Specht: It was May 19, and it was after one of the legislative sessions. Berger was speaking to reporters on the floor of the Senate chamber, and someone asked him about potentially repealing or pausing the gas tax. He said it “strikes me that that’s more of a feel-good kind of thing than something that actually would make a whole lot of difference with reference to individuals.”

Terry: What did he say last week?

Specht: He held a news briefing before the Senate and the House voted on the gas tax suspension this past Wednesday, where he said every member of the Republican Senate Caucus stands in support of this measure that will be taken up later today. And he said — I’ll paraphrase this — we’re hearing from people across the state about high gas prices and the difficulties that they’re having, whether they’re families just trying to get their kids to school, to buy groceries, or people trying to make their deliveries. And he said, “So today, we’re here to answer that call.”

Terry: So what’s changed? Prices were high in May, right? Are they higher now?

Specht: We asked him that. I went to his press conference last Wednesday and said, “Back in May, you said this, and today you’re backing this legislation. Has your opinion changed?” And he said, “Sure.” He said: At that time, what was the price of gas? Was it over $4? I don't think so. “The pressure on individual citizens is much greater now than it was then.” That was his full quote.

Actually — and I had to go back and look this up because I wasn’t in the meeting; I didn’t have the exact numbers in front of me — AAA records show that gas in North Carolina was $4.17 per gallon on average in May, compared to $4.12 per gallon last week when they took this vote. So, actually, gas prices were about five cents higher back in May. Now, he did say the pressure on individual citizens is greater now than it was then. Perhaps that’s true. People have had high gas prices for longer now than they had back in May.

Terry: Does this have anything to do with the midterms, now just a few weeks away?

Specht: That’s what Democrats are accusing the Republicans of, is acting in the best interest of their campaigns rather than the constituents’ wallets.

Terry: You ran Berger’s position change through your patented flip-o-meter. How did it come out?

Specht: We have three options: no flip, a half flip, or a full flop, and that’s when there’s a major reversal in someone’s position. We rated this a full flip-flop, and that’s because he acknowledged that his opinion had changed. I need to point out one more thing. This rating system is not making a judgment on whether or not Berger has done something wrong or any speaker has done something wrong. It merely measures how much a position has changed, not whether it’s good or bad. Some people may say, “Hey, you know, it’s good that Berger changed his mind. We could use this relief.” And others, of course, might criticize him. The rating is a full flop because he has changed so significantly from May until October.

These fact checks are a collaboration between PolitiFact and WRAL.