Update, Oct. 7, 2026: The General Assembly passed House Bill 3 on Oct. 7, suspending the state’s 41-cent motor fuel tax through Nov. 30. The bill awaits Gov. Josh Stein’s signature. Read the latest.
North Carolina’s top Republican legislative leaders say they will call the General Assembly into a special session aimed at relief from high gas and diesel prices, and a House member has put that request in writing under the state constitution.
House Speaker Destin Hall, a Republican from Caldwell County, and Senate Leader Phil Berger, a Republican from Rockingham County, announced Saturday, Oct. 3, that they intend to bring lawmakers back to Raleigh to “provide relief from high gas and diesel prices.” They have not set a date or named a specific bill.
“Rising fuel costs are squeezing North Carolina families’ pocketbooks and creating challenges for farmers across the state,” Hall said in a social media post. “North Carolinians can’t afford to wait.”
Berger wrote that families and farmers “need real relief, and they need it now.”
The same day, Rep. Edward C. Goodwin, a Republican who represents House District 1, sent Hall a one-page letter under Article II, Section 11(2) of the North Carolina Constitution. That section says the House speaker and the Senate president must convene an extra session by joint proclamation after each receives written requests signed by three-fifths of the members of that chamber. The House has 120 members, so 72 House signatures would be needed under that rule.
Goodwin’s letter asks Hall and the Senate president to issue a joint proclamation “to consider legislation necessary to provide North Carolinians with state tax relief on gas and diesel fuel.” It is signed “Rep Edward C. Goodwin,” with House District No. 1 filled in by hand. District 1 covers Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Perquimans, Tyrrell and Washington counties.
Leaders have not said whether they will use that constitutional call or another path, and they have not said what relief they will put on the floor. One option under discussion elsewhere in state coverage is a temporary suspension of part or all of North Carolina’s 41-cent-per-gallon motor fuel tax, which helps pay for roads. No bill text has been released.
The announcement came three days after Gov. Josh Stein directed the state Department of Revenue not to penalize drivers for using red-dyed diesel on public roads through the end of 2026. Red-dyed diesel is normally limited to off-road farm equipment and is taxed differently. Stein said farmers have faced crop losses, drought and higher diesel costs.
As of early October, AAA put North Carolina’s average regular unleaded price at about $4.03 a gallon, below the national average, with diesel near $6 a gallon. Catawba County drivers would feel any statewide change at the pump the same as drivers elsewhere.
House Democratic Leader Robert Reives criticized the timing ahead of the Nov. 3 election, saying Republicans were trying to distract from their affordability policies. Senate Democratic Leader Sydney Batch called the move “a day late and a dollar short.”
Source note: Goodwin letter dated Oct. 3, 2026, photographed for Catawba First News. Leaders’ announcement and quotes verified against NC Newsline and WRAL. Tip and local framing from a local news report. Constitutional text verified against Article II, Section 11(2).
