HARTFORD, Conn.—Republican state lawmakers proposed Monday a summertime gas tax holiday to help motorists pressed by record high prices at the pump.
Republicans, who are in the minority in the state House and Senate, called for the elimination of the 10-cent-a-gallon tax from July 1 to Labor Day weekend. The move would save motorists $25 million, the lawmakers said.
GOP lawmakers also said they will seek the repeal of a planned increase in the gross receipts tax, which is a levy on the wholesale price of gasoline. And they're calling for the phase-out of a $250 tax charged to every business in Connecticut.
"We believe that we literally cannot afford to do nothing. We believe that doing nothing is not an option," said House Minority Leader Lawrence J. Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk.
The tax cuts would be financed by early retirement incentives for state employees, the Republicans said. More than one-third of eligible employees would participate, saving $163 million, they said.
Majority Democrats dismissed the GOP plan. House Speaker James Amann called it "mumbo jumbo" and "typical eleventh hour rhetoric" nine days before the General Assembly session is due to end.
Gov. M. Jodi Rell's suggestion to not tinker with the proposal for the fiscal year that begins July 1 and approved last year makes the most sense, the speaker said.
