LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Patrick Desage has been one of thousands of people who've needed to climb behind the wheel of a car as part of their job and feeling the pain of filling up the tank as a result.
Desage drove a large passenger van into a Sinclair station Thursday as the sign over head read $5.29 and spent $124 without topping off the tank.
"I spend this amount every three days," he said.
RELATED: Rep. Horsford proposes $300 monthly tax credit for car owners amid high gas prices
A new bill introduced on Capitol Hill would give a $300 tax credit a month to drivers working much like the expired Child Tax Credit did, but, instead of stimulus going to parents, car owners would receive money in the bank.
"It would make a dent," Desage said, "but at the end of the day it doesn't do much. It's only filling up my van twice."
William Flournoy, a 71 year old retired veteran, "believed the money could do more for rideshare drivers like him and his wife.
"She does Uber Eats," he said. "I do this in the evening. It's just the rent, with the rent and everything else going up, it's just hard to keep up."
Economist Steven Budin, however, said people shouldn't celebrate the concept of stimulus money before considering the larger impact on the economy.
"It sounds great for public relations," he said, "but it's not the best idea from an economic perspective."
Budin said gas prices have risen because supply has been low.
He worried an influx of money to car owners would increase demand on the already strained supply potentially leading to even higher prices and a reliance on more stimulus for people to keep prices within reach.
RELATED: Where to find some of the cheapest gas prices in the Las Vegas area
