House Republican Press Release

June 2, 2007

Press Office: 860-240-8700

KLARIDES: DEMOCRATS KILL REPUBLICAN GAS TAX CUT

HARTFORD – House Democrats tonight finally killed the Gas Tax Holiday Republicans crafted to immediately save motorists 25 cents per gallon from Memorial Day to Labor Day, despite widespread public outrage at the record high fuel prices.

The Republican amendment, supported by Deputy House Republican Leader Themis Klarides (R-Derby) would have saved motorists more than $125 million in fuel costs from now until Labor Day and the lost revenue would have been replaced with a portion of the $846 million surplus.

“The Democrats have decided to pass up the one and only chance we may have to enact this Gas Tax Holiday, and pass on legitimate savings at the pump to Connecticut motorists” said Klarides.  “Yet instead, they voted for it once on a tax package they knew would fail to give themselves political cover, and have opposed it every other opportunity they have had to enact it.”

Every Republican in the House and Senate voted to cut the gas tax since the House Republicans first proposed it on May 14. Since then, Democrats used procedural slight of hands to try and fool the public into thinking that they supported the gas tax cut.

Klarides noted that 173 of the 187 lawmakers in the House and Senate have in recent weeks voted to cut the state gas tax, either in amendments or on the Democratic tax legislation that was supported by 90 of the 107 House Democrats. Those votes were for bills that were crafted to give Democrats political cover but stood no chance of ever becoming law.

“We all know that the Democrats have a significant majority in both chambers in the legislature,” said Klarides.  “The bottom line is that Democrats were serious about wanting to suspend the gas tax for the summer, it would have already been done.”

This session of the Connecticut General Assembly adjourns at midnight June 6^th, 2007.