A GIFT AT THE PUMP IN AN ELECTION YEAR

Do you want a “gas tax holiday” to help buffer the rising cost of fuel?  Your first reaction is probably a loud and enthusiastic “Yes!”

But before we all start planning what to do with those extra quarters’ savings per gallon, it’s worth asking a couple of uncomfortable questions:  who really benefits and who’s really paying for it later?

Governor Lamont says suspending the gas tax would help your already-squeezed wallet as global oil prices climb during the Iran war. Fair enough.

But let’s not forget one small detail.  It’s also an election year.

And if that sounds familiar, it should. The last gas tax “holiday” came in 2022 — another election year.  Funny how that works.

Still, as one seasoned Connecticut legislator once told me: “Sometimes good politics is also good policy.”  Translation: even a political stunt can occasionally help people.

Gas taxes fund the state’s Special Transportation Fund (STF) which spends about $2.3-billion-a-year for highways, buses, rail service and the endless maintenance required to keep Connecticut moving.

Right now the STF looks healthy enough.  But the state’s own forecasts show trouble ahead as costs rise and revenue from gasoline taxes slowly declines.

A gas tax holiday would drain about $40 million a month from the fund… money that normally pays for things like fixing potholes, maintaining bridges and subsidizing Metro-North.

So yes, a gas tax holiday would save you a little money at the pump.  But remember: the state’s transportation system still needs to be paid for somehow.

Until recently, transportation planners worried that electric vehicles would slowly starve the STF because EV drivers don’t buy gasoline and therefore don’t pay gas taxes.  But now federal policy toward EVs has been, shall we say, less enthusiastic.  Which means that deficit problem may arrive later than expected.

Of course, with gasoline pushing toward painful levels again, an electric car is suddenly looking pretty attractive, assuming you can afford one.

Remember the last “holiday” in 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine and fuel prices surged?  The state suspended the 25-cent-per-gallon tax for nine months, then slowly restored it over five months so drivers wouldn’t feel the shock all at once.  Average savings worked out to roughly $100 to $120 per driver.  Nice, but not exactly life-changing.

In other transportation news this week…  the Connecticut Department of Transportation seems to be going after truckers again.

During February’s blizzard, CDOT did an admirable job clearing the highways.  Unfortunately, their work was repeatedly slowed by tractor-trailers ignoring the statewide truck ban and jackknifing across the interstates.

Currently the fine for violating a truck ban is just $90.  That’s barely more than a parking ticket.  CDOT wants to raise the penalty to $250, which might finally get some drivers’ attention as a deterrent to risking travel in a blizzard.

But where exactly are trucks supposed to go?  If they pull off the highway during a storm, where exactly can they park?  Connecticut has only 363 truck parking spaces statewide at rest areas.  But CDOT estimates that more than 10,000 trucks a day travel I-95 alone.

Truckers get paid for delivering freight on time, not for sitting in a parking lot waiting for the snow to stop.

So if the state wants stricter compliance with truck bans, it might help to provide drivers with two things:  more notice … and somewhere safe to park.