With gasoline prices rising sharply in an election year, Gov. Ned Lamont called Monday for cutting the state’s gasoline tax by 25 cents per gallon. The excise tax would be eliminated until the end of the fiscal year on June 30 and would cost state coffers $90 million. The package does not include any cuts in the state’s diesel tax that is paid largely by trucks and large vehicles like a Chevrolet Suburban. The tax cuts still require approval by the Democratic-controlled legislature, which could vote as early as Wednesday after caucuses of rank-and-file lawmakers in the House of Representatives and Senate. The tax cuts are possible because the state has a projected surplus of $1.5 billion for the fiscal year that ends on June 30 and more than $1 billion next year. Connecticut also has a rainy day fund for fiscal emergencies that could reach more than $5 billion later this year if fiscal trends continue. But some of that money would then be redirected to pay down unfunded pension liabilities. The once-troubled Special Transportation Fund, which contains $1.9 billion from gasoline taxes and various motor vehicle receipts, now has a projected surplus of $275 million in the current year.
https://www.courant.com/politics/hc-pol-lamont-gasoline-tax-cut-20220314-ttgh3t3sizcjdg5zjxbbn4bbom-story.html