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By SUSAN HAIGH
Associated Press Writer
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) _ State politicians agreed Tuesday that they need to do more to help Connecticut residents struggling with high energy costs.
But they have yet to decide how best to do it.
Republican lawmakers said they're collecting signatures to hold a special session this summer to cap the wholesale price of gasoline that's taxed by the state. They claim their plan could save motorists about 4 to 7 cents per gallon at the pump.
``This is what the people of the state of Connecticut are screaming about,'' Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, R-Fairfield, said. ``They want help. They want relief.''
Democrats, who hold a large majority in the General Assembly, called the GOP proposal a gimmick that would rob the state of much-needed revenue.
Instead, Democrats are supporting Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell's plan to hold a special legislative session to approve spending $22 million in newly found surplus funds to provide heating aid to needy residents.
``We like good ideas, but we don't like ideas where the state loses revenue,'' House Speaker James Amann, D-Milford said.
The GOP also supports Rell's heating relief proposal.
This would mark the second special session this summer to deal with energy-related issues. No date for the session has been set. It comes as fuel prices in Connecticut continue to rank among the highest in the nation.
In June, lawmakers returned to the Capitol to stop a planned increase in the state tax on wholesale earnings from gasoline sales. They also made it easier for gas stations to offer discounts to customers who pay with cash, set aside $2.5 million to help buy fuel efficient furnaces for 3,000 low-income and elderly households, and provided stronger protections for consumers who enter into prepaid heating oil contracts.
Rell said Tuesday that she's willing to consider adding the Republican plan to cap the petroleum products gross receipts tax to her call for a special session. According to July 1 figures from the American Petroleum Institute, the fluctuating gross receipts tax is 27.4 cents per gallon, higher than the fixed state excise tax of 25 cents per gallon.
``I think it makes good sense,'' Rell said. ``If we can reduce the pain at the pump for any person, we should be looking at it to see if it in fact is feasible.''
Meanwhile, majority Democrats urged Rell on Tuesday to release $5 million in state bonds to finally fund a year-old state program that provides up to $500 rebates to families who replace their inefficient oil and natural gas burners with efficient ones. A spokesman for Rell said the funding is expected to be approved at the Aug. 4 State Bond Commission meeting.
``This kind of money will jump-start people into thinking about doing this,'' said Sen. John Fonfara, D-Hartford, co-chairman of the legislature's Energy Committee.
He said homeowners can also take advantage of a low- and no-interest loan program already offered by the Connecticut Housing Investment Fund, a private, nonprofit organization that helps homeowners doing energy conservation projects.
Also Tuesday, the legislature's Regulations Review Committee voted to change new pollution regulations and allow electricity consumers to possibly receive rebates.
Last week, state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal called Rell's rebate proposal illegal because it would take up to $35 million a year from conservation initiatives and other long-term programs the legislature identified to help fight rising electric rates.
The General Assembly is requiring polluters to buy pollution credits under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a cooperative effort by Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Connecticut's law requires proceeds be invested in conservation, managing electricity usage and renewable energy programs.
Rell said she wanted to shield ratepayers from any unexpected costs that might result from the pollution reduction program.
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(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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