House Republican Press Release

July 1, 2008

Press Office: 860-240-8700

REPRESENTATIVE SCRIBNER: HIDDEN GAS TAXES SPIRAL UP

DEMOCRAT MAJORITY VOTE IN LEGISLATURE MEANS NO RELIEF IN NEW FISCAL YEAR

HARTFORD- State gas taxes will continue to increase because the majority of state legislators have refused to cap the price at which the gross receipts tax kicks in, State Rep. David Scribner said today, at the start of the new fiscal year. Rep. Scribner voted to cap the wholesale price of gasoline during the Legislature’s June 11 special session but the measure was defeated in a largely party-line vote.

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.

The gross receipts tax was scheduled to increase today from 7 to 7.5 percent but that was scuttled when the legislature voted June 11 to delay the hike. But the effective rate of the gross receipts tax actually already is 7.5 percent because the state places a “tax upon the tax.’’

“The single most important issue I have heard about from my constituents this year is the high cost of gasoline,” said Rep. Scribner. “It’s having a severe impact on every family and we can and should do more to help. Without capping the wholesale price of gasoline, state gas taxes will continue to rise this summer and the majority party in the legislature is entirely responsible for the situation.”