State legislators whiffed on an opportunity to help state residents deal with inflation at the gas pump when they removed only about half of the state tax collected on a gallon of gasoline.

A partial gas tax holiday helps some, but we agree with Sen. George Borrello.

“Instead, the Democrat majorities included a partial, 16-cent suspension, which is a token effort, but too small to make a measurable difference,” Borrello said.

Chautauqua County residents may get a little bit of additional relief, however, under a proposal from Democrats on the Chautauqua County Legislature. Susan Parker of Fredonia, Robert Bankoski of Dunkirk, Paul Whitford of Jamestown, and Billy Torres of Jamestown are proposing removing the county’s share of the sales tax on gasoline, which amounts to about 8 cents a gallon.

Doing so in concert with the state’s half-measure would bring gasoline prices down about 24 cents a gallon — something that can be a real help to a lot of Chautauqua County residents.

It will be interesting to see how the proposal takes shape before it is discussed by the Chautauqua County Legislature. And it will be interesting to see the reaction of Republicans in the county legislature as well.