North Haven, East Haven Lawmakers Push to Pause Connecticut's Gas and Diesel Taxes

HARTFORD, CT — Republican lawmakers from North Haven and East Haven joined their party's push Friday, Oct. 2, to suspend Connecticut's taxes on gasoline and diesel through Dec. 31, asking Gov. Ned Lamont and the Democratic majority to bring the legislature back to Hartford to pass it.

State Sen. Paul Cicarella, whose 34th District includes North Haven, Wallingford and East Haven, made the call with House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora of North Branford, Rep. Dave Yaccarino of North Haven and Rep. Joe Zullo of East Haven, according to a statement from the Senate Republicans. Connecticut Republicans first proposed the tax holiday Wednesday, Sept. 30, the Connecticut Mirror reported, and on Thursday Candelora urged Lamont to call a special session for it, WFSB reported.

The plan would lift the 25-cent-per-gallon tax on gasoline and the 49.9-cent-per-gallon tax on diesel. State fiscal analysts estimate the two raise about $42 million and $12 million a month, according to the Mirror, so a three-month break would cost about $162 million. Candelora put the cost at $128 million, WFSB reported. The plan leaves in place the state's separate 8.81% tax on wholesale gasoline, which the Mirror said adds about 26.4 cents a gallon.

The Connecticut GOP estimates the suspension would save a driver about $2.75 on a tank of gas and $5.49 on a tank of diesel. Republicans say the Special Transportation Fund, with nearly $650 million in projected surplus and reserves, can absorb the cost.

Prices at the pump have climbed

AAA put the average price of regular gasoline in Connecticut at $4.48 a gallon on Sept. 30, up 28 cents in a month, and diesel at $6.48, up 78 cents since late August, the Mirror reported. Diesel had set a state record just under $6.50 two days earlier.

Cicarella pointed to 2022, when lawmakers voted unanimously to suspend the gasoline tax, Lamont signed the bill and the break was later extended through the end of that year. "This is an opportunity for the majority to put people over politics," he said. "People don't care which party gets credit. They care about what it costs to fill their tank, buy groceries and get to work."

Candelora said diesel relief matters as much. "It fuels the trucks that deliver our groceries and everything on store shelves," he said in the statement.

Lamont asks how the state would pay for roads

Lamont said Thursday that the fuel taxes pay to rebuild roads and bridges. "They have to come forward and say, 'How do you pay for this?'" he told WFSB. The transportation fund also covers Department of Transportation operations and the debt payments on more than $1 billion the state borrows each year for highways, bridges and rail lines, the Mirror reported; it is on pace for a surplus of nearly $210 million.

Democratic leaders pointed to the U.S. war with Iran, which began Feb. 28, as a main reason prices have risen. Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, said Republicans should take their complaint to President Donald Trump. House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, said state action "would minimally impact fuel prices" because costs are "heavily driven by federal policies."

Lamont floated a one-month gas-tax pause in the spring, when gas cost about $3.50 a gallon. Senate Democrats backed it, House Democrats did not, and it never happened, WFSB reported. A special session, which the governor would have to call, did not look likely, the station reported.

Got a tip? Reach out to us at tips@thequinnipiacpost.com.