Pulling up to the gas pump has become a painful proposition these days.

As the petroleum marketplace has pushed gas prices back over the $3-per-gallon threshold, the pressure on lawmakers to advocate for consumer interests has mounted.

Although Isle gas prices no longer seem so out of keeping with what Mainland drivers pay, Hawai'i residents are feeling the pinch more than ever with the increase in the general excise tax on O'ahu. Taxes on gas are felt acutely by lower-income people, in particular, because gas costs eat up a disproportionately large percentage of their income.

So the Senate has done well to rescue the proposed exemption on the excise tax added to gasoline prices.

Conference committee members who will take up this proposal may be worried about the bite this will take out of state revenues. However, the surplus in state coffers ought to allow lawmakers to provide limited relief from the excise taxes assessed at the gas pump, bringing the exemption up for review at next year's session.

Critics of the exemption worry that the savings will not be passed on to consumers. However, a second initiative, aimed at enabling transparency in gas pricing, may help the voters feel more confident that they'll be keeping the money previously handed over to the tax collectors.

A law passed last year assigned the state Public Utilities Commission to issue detailed reports on what costs by refiners and wholesalers factor into gas prices. Senate Bill 990 would provide funds for commission staff to handle the extra work and lays out a plan for how and when the commission would provide this transparency.

The latest version of the bill, however, seems too lax on the how and when, leaving it largely up to the commission to set the timetable for releasing information.

Our lawmakers can do better than that. The law needs to set firmer guidelines on the process so that the pricing information is released without excessive delay.

If lawmakers are sincere about giving consumers oversight on the pricing of a commodity in their captive market, that information has to be available on a timely basis, and in as much detail as possible.