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Are today's low prices helping offset the impact of Pennsylvania's gasoline taxes, which are the highest in the nation?

(PennLive.com file)

Pennsylvania is the state with the highest gas taxes in the nation, according to GasBuddy.com, as noted in an item by PennLive colleague Deb Kiner. Our state collects 50.5 cents a gallon in taxes, and the feds tack on another 18.4 cents. Grand tax total is 68.9 cents a gallon. That's a nickel a gallon higher than those two high-taxing, blue-voting states, New York and California.

Despite those steep taxes, the price of gasoline has dropped dramatically. Wednesday morning, GasBuddy reported the average price in the Harrisburg area was $2.159 a gallon. Back in May, the average price was more than $1.50 higher ($3.77 a gallon).

In late 2013, then-Gov. Tom Corbett persuaded the Republican-dominated Legislature to raise taxes on gasoline so the state would have a big new stream of money to fix more of the state's aging roads, bridges and mass transit systems.

The higher gasoline taxes, which are being phased in over five years, were part of a wide transportation funding law that will pour another $2.3 billion a year into the state's transportation work, a 40 percent increase.

Some Democrats supported Corbett in passing the new tax, enough to offset 'no' votes from diehard anti-tax Republican legislators. When Corbett signed the bill in late November 2013, the average gas price in our area was $3.29 a gallon — more than $1 above today's price.

Are you feeling the pain of the big state tax increase on gasoline? Or has the drastic drop in gas prices masked any sting from the tax hike?

Vote in our poll and have your say in the comments.

Note: This informal poll is not meant to be a scientific assessment of public opinion. It is merely a way for readers to express views on a topic of current interest.