Cut & Cap the Gas Tax

Here’s what Democrats do not want you to know: every time the price of gas goes up, it’s “good news” for the state treasury because of the Petroleum Gross Receipts Tax, which adds a 7% tax to the cost of gasoline in Connecticut.

So today, Representative Cafero and I wrote to every member of the legislature and asked them to sign a petition calling for a Special Session to cut and cap the Gross Receipts Tax, and require that such tax reduction be passed on to consumers.

We only need 6 more signatures in the Senate and a simple majority in the House to cut and cap the gas tax.

Connecticut motorists pay more than 50 cents/gallon in state gas taxes (more than half of which comes from the Gross Receipts Tax at today’s prices). That amounts to more than $7.50 every time you fill-up a 15-gallon fuel tank.

The Gross Receipts Tax was increased to pay for major transportation projects, but due to record gas prices, the state is taking in approximately $200 million in windfall revenues beyond what is needed for transportation. Today, nearly 60% of the revenue from this tax is being used to feed a bloated and growing state bureaucracy.

You can visit our home page to see if your senator has signed the petition to cut and cap the gas tax. If they haven’t, please contact them today and tell them that you don’t think Connecticut should have the highest gas tax in the region.

We can do something about gas prices

Last week we welcomed Governor Rell's support of the legislative Republicans' proposal to cap the state gross receipts tax on gasoline. Incredibly, in response the Democratic leadership said rising gas prices are a federal problem over which the state has no control.

Hiding behind the failures of our federal government is not leadership. Speaker Amann and Senate President Williams want you to believe that there is nothing the state can do to help reduce the price of gasoline. That's because they want to continue to spend the hundreds-of-millions of dollars in windfall profits the state is reaping from the growing energy crisis. Well, the last time I checked, neither President Bush nor the Democrat controlled Congress had control over our state gas taxes.

The truth that the Democrat leaders choose to ignore is, as state legislators, there is one factor contributing to the high price of gasoline that we can control, and that is the state gas tax. Currently, Connecticut gas taxes cost motorists more than 50 cents / gallon - one of the highest rates in the country. Since April, Republican legislators have been fighting to reduce that rate by cutting the gross receipts tax and permanently capping it. This will prevent the tax from increasing every time the price of oil goes up.

Democrat leaders questioned whether Governor Rell would support capping the gross receipts tax. Either they forgot or chose to ignore the fact that Governor Rell proposed capping the tax two years ago. Regardless, now they have no excuse. With Governor Rell's leadership and support, we are a step closer to providing a measure of relief to Connecticut families and businesses who are struggling to pay some of the highest gas prices in the nation. Legislative Democrats are the only impediment standing in the way of lower gas taxes in Connecticut.