June 24, 2013

Bolinsky Continues Petition Effort Against Gas Tax Increase

This article was archived from the previous WordPress site. Formatting and media should be close, but may not match the original post perfectly.

NEWTOWN- In May, State Rep. Mitch Bolinsky began an effort to fight the impending gas tax hike, scheduled for July 1, by asking residents to sign onto a petition.

Bolinsky’s ‘Stop the Gas Hike’ petition has close to one-hundred signatures and now is part of a statewide ‘block the gas tax hike’ movement which includes members of the Republican Senate and House delegation, sounding off against the 16 percent hike adopted by the Democratically-controlled legislature, which was opposed by the Republicans this past session.

“The Gross Receipts Tax is a hidden gasoline tax that motorists pay above and beyond the state (25 cents) and federal (18.4 cents) per-gallon taxes. When July 1 rolls around, gas prices in Connecticut will jump higher than normal because of this ill-advised measure,” said Bolinsky.

Bolinsky noted that he has two issues with the state’s current transportation strategy:

“First, we do not need to tax and punish Connecticut drivers with this new increase particularly since the Governor raided $91 million from the dedicated Special Transportation Fund (STF) to plug his budget priorities and; Second, just last week, the American Society of Civil Engineers issued the 2013 Report Card on the Nation’s Infrastructure and the report says Connecticut’s roads are the worst in the nation. An incredible 73 percent of roads are in poor or mediocre condition in the Nutmeg State, which, along with Illinois, is tied for the embarrassing distinction of being the worst in the nation. Despite our crumbling infrastructure, the state is pushing forward with a heavily subsidized $500 million dollar New Britain to Hartford Busway, which may never provide a positive return on investment. Additionally, the state is also in final design phase of a New Haven to Springfield rail-line, which will cost taxpayers millions.

“It’s time to focus our state efforts on maintaining existing roads and bridges, not building new, high-dollar, special-interest local projects that will benefit few Connecticut residents and businesses. There is certainly nothing in these projects for the people I serve in Western Connecticut, except if you count crumbling roads,” said Rep. Bolinsky. “Let’s stop raiding the STF so the democrats don’t have to lean on continuing hikes in gas prices to pay for essential repairs and long delayed improvements in current infrastructure.”