Governor Ned Lamont (D) this week signed legislation suspending Connecticut’s 25-cent-per gallon gasoline tax.
The gas-tax holiday passed both houses of the state legislature unanimously and will last through the end of June. Also to ease Nutmeggers’ economic woes in light of skyrocketing inflation, the state is also providing free bus service to residents throughout April.
“I’m really thankful to the legislature on both sides of the aisle, the leadership taking this on on a unanimous basis,” Lamont said upon signing the bill. “We’re the third state in the country to get this gas tax relief right to folks at the pump. And along the way we’re going to provide free bus service for all of our bus-taking folks. I hope that makes a big difference in people’s lives.”
Average per-gallon gasoline prices in Connecticut have reached $4.318, according to AAA.
The tax suspension is expected to result in $300 million in relief to Connecticut motorists, something that state Senate Minority Leader Kevin Kelly (R-Shelton) said state coffers can afford to forgo because revenues have benefited so much from high inflation.
“The kitchen-table economics of Connecticut families are struggling,” Kelly told colleagues on the Senate floor before voting for the gas-tax holiday this week. “Many folks at the lower end of the K-shaped recovery are living hand-to-mouth. And so this is a way to give them relief today—to have them feel something, particularly when we know the state of Connecticut is actually in surplus.
Kelly said his caucus is also calling on the governor to reduce the sales tax and on the federal government to provide federal gasoline-tax relief.
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Bradley Vasoli is managing editor of The Connecticut Star. Follow Brad on Twitter at @BVasoli. Email tips to [email protected].
