by Len Fasano
Minority Leader Pro Tempore (R- North Haven) Connecticut
State Senate
Connecticut motorists are now paying the highest gasoline
prices in all of America and it is past time we do something
about it. State Republican leaders are again urging
the Senate President and House Speaker to expand the
call of the June 11th special session to include a debate
on state gas taxes, which are also among the highest
in the nation.
In fact, the difference in gas prices between Connecticut
and our neighboring states correlates, almost to the
penny, to the difference in the amount of gas taxes.
For example, Connecticut consumers pay 22 cents more
per gallon of gas than consumers in Rhode Island, while
the difference in gas taxes is 19.7 cents. Similarly,
we pay 28 cents more for a gallon of gas than people
in Massachusetts and 27.2 cents more in gas taxes. Finally,
when compared to New York, we are paying 8 cents more
per gallon of gas and 10.6 cents more per gallon in
gas taxes.
While countless factors contributing to the high price
of fuel are outside of the legislature’s control,
the state gas tax is one factor over which we have total
control. I believe we must move quickly to reduce it.
Connecticut levies two different taxes on gasoline.
The first is a flat tax of 25 cents per gallon. The
second tax is known as the Petroleum Gross Receipts
Tax. The Gross Receipts Tax is a percentage of the wholesale
price of petroleum. According to the Independent Connecticut
Petroleum Association (ICPA), at the current rate of
7 percent, the tax costs consumers approximately 25.7
cents per gallon of gasoline. It had been set at 5 percent
for many years, but a series of increases was instituted
in 2005 in order to pay for major transportation projects.
However, the tax is still increasing, and the excess
revenues are quietly being transferred to the state’s
General Fund to pay for new and ongoing projects. The
tax will climb to 7.5 percent on July 1st if the legislature
does not do something to stop it.
To that end, I have joined other Republican leaders
in introducing a series of proposed budget adjustments
that, among other things, will provide immediate gas
tax relief. Our proposal would stop the Gross Receipts
Tax hike scheduled for July 1st and cap the tax by freezing
the wholesale price the rate is assessed against. Because
the gross receipts tax is levied per dollar instead
of per gallon, as oil prices go up, consumers pay more
in taxes. Our proposal would protect citizens from increases
that are built into this tax as a result of increasing
oil prices. If the tax is 25.7 cents per gallon today,
it will remain 25.7 cents even if oil prices rise.
We would provide additional relief by implementing
a two-month gas tax holiday, reducing the cost of gas
an additional 10-cents per gallon through Labor Day.
We would more than offset the proposed gas tax cuts
by offering 11,000 qualified state workers a voluntary
Early Retirement Incentive Program that aims to save
the state more than $140 million and shrink the size
of an already bloated state government.
In the end, we must do something. As the cost of gasoline
heads toward $5 per gallon, driving up the cost of food
and other necessities, this is not the time to sit idly
by as a state legislature. People need relief now and
there are ways for us to help provide it.
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