Tuesday, Republican gubernatorial hopeful Tim James released his campaign’s fourth television advertisement of the 2022 primary election cycle.

The ad, titled “Death and Taxes,” targets Gov. Kay Ivey over her support of the “Rebuild Alabama Act.” Signed into law by Ivey in 2019, the act raised the state’s fuel tax to make way for increased infrastructure investment and is indexed to account for rising construction costs.

“Ben Franklin said, ‘There are only two things certain in life: death and taxes,’” says James in the ad. “Now, thanks to Kay Ivey, there’s a third… Death, taxes and Kay Ivey’s gas tax increase that goes up automatically without a vote forever.”

James adds, “Governor Ivey and the political crowd found a way to raise taxes forever… Without having to vote on them. I’m Tim James, and as governor, I’ll repeal the never-ending gas tax increase because working folks need a break. It’s time to fight back.”

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In a statement accompanying his campaign’s ad announcement, James doubled down on his criticism of Ivey by asserting that the tax was “burdening working families.”

“People are hurting and have to face the choice between filling up their car with gas to go to work or putting food on the table,” stated James. “We must stop burdening working families in Alabama with new taxes as Gov. Ivey has done. Alabamians deserve a governor who is focused on putting money in the people’s pockets and not into the government’s pocket.”

The candidate concluded, “If these scheduled tax increases were not bad enough over the last three years, it gets even worse with Gov. Ivy’s plan to continue increasing the tax on gasoline forever. I have never seen any kind of tax that is scheduled to increase automatically forever without a vote by the legislature or the people of Alabama, but that is what Gov. Ivey signed into law. If I am elected governor, I will get the ever-increasing tax increase repealed.”

The primary election will take place on May 24, 2022.

Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL