House Republican Press Release

July 1, 2008

Press Office: 860-240-8700

Rep. Anne Ruwet supports GOP caucuses’ call for further action on the gas tax

HARTFORD - State gas taxes will continue to increase if the Legislative majority refuses to cap the price at which the gross receipts tax kicks in, House and Senate Republicans said today, the start of the new fiscal year.

In effect, Connecticut places a “tax on a tax’’ for fuel and other services that reap million from consumers without them fully understanding how the tax system works. The windfall gross receipts tax is estimated to produce an additional $148 million more than budgeted this fiscal year. When the legislature convened Feb. 6 the wholesale price of gas was $2.24 per gallon, but at 10 a.m. today, July 1, the price had shot up to $3.56. 

With the onset of the new fiscal year that was supposed to keep gas taxes in check, the taxes levied at the pump continue to climb as the wholesale price increases, a trend that would have stopped had the Republican alternative fuel relief plan been adopted.

“As I speak with people throughout my district, gas prices are their number-one concern,” said state Rep. Anne Ruwet. “The legislature should be convened to do all we can on the state level, including capping the price on which we collect the gross receipts tax, to provide as much relief as we can to our constituents.”

Rep. Ruwet has voted against increasing the gross receipts tax on gasoline at every opportunity in her six years as a legislator.