As Connecticut’s gas prices continue to be among the highest in the nation, I believe it is time for the General Assembly to convene a special legislative session to do the only thing that state government can do to provide meaningful relief at the pumps – cut state gas taxes.
That is why I recently signed a petition calling for the Secretary of the State to call a special session “to cut and cap the Petroleum Gross Receipts Tax and require that such tax reduction be passed on to consumers in order to provide immediate relief for Connecticut motorists.”
Senate Republican Leader John McKinney and House Republican Leader Lawrence F. Cafero, Jr., initiated this petition drive on July 22nd. So far, all 13 Republican Senators and one Democrat State Senator have signed the petition, along with all 44 Republican State Representatives. The Secretary of the State must call a special session for this purpose if she receives signed petitions from a majority of members of both chambers; that is a total of 19 signed petitions from State Senators and 76 signed petitions from State Representatives.
Signed petitions are valid for only 30 days. However, Governor M. Jodi Rell has already called a special session for August 22nd to provide home heating relief this winter. I completely agree that the General Assembly needs to take action now to ensure that Connecticut’s most vulnerable citizens get the government assistance they need to stay warm this winter. But, it is my hope – assuming we do not collect enough signatures to force a separate special session – that the General Assembly takes advantage of the August 22nd special session to consider providing meaningful relief to Connecticut residents who are struggling to pay the cost of filling up their gas tanks, as well.
Briefly, the Petroleum Products Gross Receipts Tax is one of two state taxes on gasoline. One is a flat 25-cent per-gallon excise tax. The other, the Petroleum Products Gross Receipts Tax, is levied as a percentage of the wholesale price. Currently, the Petroleum Products Gross Receipts Tax rate is set at seven percent. The insidious thing about this particular tax is, because it is levied on the wholesale price, it costs consumers more every time the price of gas increases. As gas prices tend to go up more than they tend to go down, this has resulted in a windfall for state government.
As Senator McKinney and Representative Cafero noted when initiating the special session petition drive, the General Assembly a few years ago began raising the rate of the Petroleum Gross Receipts Tax to pay for major transportation projects. However, record gas prices have resulted in an incredible windfall for the state – and nearly 60 percent of the revenue from the Petroleum Products Gross Receipts Tax is being used for purposes other than funding major transportation initiatives.
I believe it is time for the General Assembly to tell
the truth of about the Petroleum Products Gross Receipts
Tax and, more importantly, act to let Connecticut taxpayers
keep more of their hard-earned money in their pockets.
Legislators who have not yet done so can let Connecticut
residents know that they are on their side by signing
the petition calling for a gas tax special session.
As of today, we need five more Senators and 32 more
Representatives to submit signed petitions.
Cutting and capping the Petroleum Products Gross Receipts Tax would limit the state’s windfall. Republican Senators have called for capping the wholesale price on which this tax can be levied at $2.97 per gallon.
You may remember that I have been pushing for this type of consumer relief at the gas pumps for quite some time now. Last year, I offered an amendment on the Senate floor to roll back the rate of the Petroleum Products Gross Receipts Tax to its historic five percent level. It was defeated. I offered that amendment again during a special session earlier this summer, but at that time the Democrat majority used technical maneuvers to prevent a debate and a vote.
As always, I welcome the opportunity to discuss this, and other, issues that affect our state. I would very much like to hear from you about my efforts to cut and cap the Petroleum Gross Receipts Tax. I can be reached at legislative office in Hartford at 860-240-8800, or via e-mail to Sam.Caligiuri@cga.ct.gov.
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