Lowering the price of gasoline by nearly 17 cents sounds particularly appealing to those still suffering sticker shock at the pump. So does reducing the General Assembly's temptation to spend a portion of the anticipated state budget surplus by using the funds to reimburse those digging deeper in their pockets at the pumps. But the S.C. House plan, approved Wednesday, to suspend the 16.75-cent state tax on gasoline from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31 is a shortsighted overreaction that smacks of election-year politics.

Tax relief would be welcome, but if it is being given by the state it should only go to South Carolina residents. Under the House plan, many who would benefit from a gas-tax suspension wouldn't fit that description. Visitors to our state, including those merely speeding by on the interstates, would be among those benefiting from the lower gas prices.

Gov. Mark Sanford's initial proposal to suspend the gas tax from Memorial Day to Labor Day would result in even more of this tax relief going to non-South Carolinians as Americans take summer vacations.

Regardless of the season, North Carolinians and Georgians who live near our borders doubtless would take advantage of a gas-tax suspension by routinely crossing our borders to fill their tanks.

However, if an "emergency" suspension of the gas tax is really in order, why wait for more than four more months to implement it? One obvious answer is that this is not a genuine emergency.

Though the recent upward spike in gas prices has stirred understandable aggravation among consumers, the cost of a gallon of regular unleaded is still more than 60 cents lower than the peak it hit last September after Hurricane Katrina severely disrupted the U.S. oil-supply system. The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects that the national average will remain at about $2.71 through the summer.

That prediction offers no guarantee. But if the price of gas doesn't rise much higher than it is now, would a gas-tax suspension really be justified? And if the price does climb steeply before or during the House plan's October-through-December gas-tax suspension, how will our state's economy absorb the inevitable, intensified upward shock imposed by the necessary reinstatement of the gas tax on Jan. 1?

Meanwhile, an estimated $100 million or more would be required from the general fund to offset the loss of gas-tax revenue earmarked for road needs, which are considerable. There's certainly no guarantee that the economy will keep on booming to provide the kind of surplus that now is being proposed to make up for the loss of the gas tax, which is earmarked for road construction and maintenance.

Barring a true economic emergency, the Senate should turn thumbs down on a plan that would give tax relief not only to South Carolina motorists but also to those who buy gas in our state and who use our roads.