Keisha Lance Bottoms unveils new "Drive Plan" to cut gas and car insurance costs for Georgians

Keisha Lance Bottoms is making driving costs a key issue in her campaign for Georgia governor. She is proposing fuel and car insurance tax cuts that she says would provide long-term relief.

Bottoms, the Democratic candidate for governor, unveiled what she called her "Drive Plan" during a Wednesday news conference at an Atlanta gas station. The proposal would eliminate Georgia's 2.25% tax on car insurance premiums and require insurance companies to pass the savings directly to policyholders.

Bottoms estimated that eliminating the tax would save a family with two vehicles about $140 annually.

"Our plan will provide guaranteed savings by eliminating the state auto insurance premium tax for Georgia drivers and requiring the savings to be passed on to drivers," Bottoms said.

The plan would also lower the state gasoline tax to 28 cents per gallon and the diesel tax to 31.3 cents per gallon. Before Georgia's latest temporary suspension, the state collected 33.3 cents per gallon on gasoline and 37.3 cents on diesel. 

Bottoms said the fuel tax cuts would save a two-car household nearly $80 a year. Combined with the proposed insurance tax cut, she estimated that a single driver could save more than $100 annually.

The proposal would end automatic annual increases in Georgia's fuel taxes. Bottoms said she would seek other sources of state revenue, including sponsorships and branding opportunities at visitor centers, welcome centers and electric vehicle charging stations, to help offset money no longer collected through fuel taxes.

Bottoms said she would also seek to prevent insurers from raising rates more than once a year, create a state insurance consumer advocate and require companies to issue refunds when they collect more in premiums than needed to cover claims and expenses.

Other parts of the plan include creating a lower-cost basic insurance policy for income-eligible drivers and targeting additional fees charged to policyholders.

The proposal comes as Georgia drivers face some of the country's highest car insurance costs. A recent national analysis estimated that full coverage in Georgia averages $3,108 a year. 

Gov. Brian Kemp suspended Georgia's gasoline and diesel taxes for 30 days beginning Monday as fuel prices continued to rise. Bottoms said the temporary suspension should have happened sooner and argued that drivers need relief that lasts beyond the current price surge.

"Together, these steps can make a difference in the bank accounts, in the pocketbooks of the people of this state who get up every day and work hard and just want some relief," Bottoms said.

In a statement obtained by CBS News Atlanta, Rick Jackson's Campaign Spokesman Garrison Douglas said: "Keisha Lance Bottoms had four years to make Atlanta more affordable, and instead she raised fees on Atlanta households, more than tripled the fee on building a new home, and left the city less affordable than she found it. Georgia families cannot afford to see that record taken statewide, which is why Rick Jackson laid out a plan weeks ago that treats affordability like the crisis it is by cutting the state income tax in half, lowering the property tax burden, eliminating state taxes on tips and energy, and ending the government delays that drive up the cost of a home."

Bottoms' tax changes and new insurance rules would require cooperation from Georgia lawmakers.