Legislature passes ‘hero pay’ and extension of gas-tax holiday
HARTFORD — Nearly 156,000 Connecticut nurses, day care and grocery store workers, delivery personnel and other essential employees in the private sector will make between $1,000 and $100 in one-time “hero” benefits from the state as part of wideranging legislation overwhelmingly approved Monday.
The bill passed 134-7 in the House after more than four hours of debate and three failed Republican amendments. It next headed to the Senate, where it was approved 33-0 shortly after 9 p.m., after an 80-minute debate.
Over 66,000 people who make less than $50,000 a year will get the maximum $1,000 benefits, while those with higher incomes will received drastically smaller amounts in the $105-million program, which had an October 1 application deadline.
The four-part bill also includes the extension of the gas-tax holiday through December, then gradually restores it — a nickel a month — until the usual 25-centsper-gallon tax is fully regained next May 1, after a year-long holiday.
As another part of the legislation, free statewide bus service will extend until March 31.
State Rep. Sean Scanlon, DGuilford, co-chairman of the legislative Finance Committee, said that in all, motorists and bus riders will save $330 million over the year. “When inflation hit, we acted,” said Scanlon, who was recently elected to a four-year term as state comptroller.
While minority Republicans in the House and Senate claimed credit for setting the agenda of the special session, they were also highly critical of the legislation, saying that the gas tax holiday should be extended through the fiscal year next June 30. They also pitched for more hazard pay for private employees who kept going to work during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The gas tax holiday was an idea that came from my side of the aisle,” said state Rep. Holly Cheeseman, R-East Lyme, a top Republican on the Finance Committee. “It just goes to show what good ideas can come out of this side of the aisle.”
During a morning GOP news conference Senate Minority Leader Kevin Kelly, R-Stratford, recalled that during the winter, GOP lawmakers sparked the gas-tax holiday. “This is a Republican idea. We have a budget that is in operational surplus, a surplus, mind you, that can afford to allow taxpayers this tax holiday. It needs to go through to the end of the fiscal year.”
Free bus service costs the state about $2.7 million a month, while the gas tax holiday costs the state about $20 million a month, with heavy-driving summer months reaching as high as $25 million.
“Today we’re here to thankfully adopt some of the things that Republicans have been talking about for the last three months,” said House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, noting that the gas-tax holiday had been scheduled to end on
December 1, creating a sharp return to the tax called a “cliff.”
Speaker of the House Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, during remarks to reporters before the session, said that during negotiations over the hero-pay legislation a $140 million cost was reduced to $105 million, leading to some limitations on eligibility. Local police, fire and EMTs are not eligible, although EMTs from private companies are eligible.
In both the House and Senate, Republicans offered several amendments, including extending the gas tax through next June 30. It failed along party lines. After the final House vote, Rep. Craig Fishbein, R-Wallingford, proposed going into another special session to discuss the elimination of the scheduled highway use tax for large interstate trucks scheduled to take effect on January 1. His proposal, which required two-thirds support in the chamber, which currently has a 97-54 Democratic majority, failed in a voice vote.
The GOP lawmakers said that with multi-billion surpluses last year and this year, the General Assembly should have enhanced the benefits for both essential workers and the lower-income residents who are eligible for heating assistance programs called LIHEAP and Operation Fuel.
“We are collecting record revenues in the state of Connecticut,” said state Rep. Jay Case, R-Winchester, who was recently elected to his sixth consecutive term. “That money coming into Hartford should go back to the people.”
Republicans in both the House and Senate attempted a rare parliamentary maneuver to separate the legislation into four parts, but the effort failed along party lines 88-52 and 21-12, respectively. The $128-million heating assistance package targets lower-income residents, including $76,000 income maximums for families of four. The applications have increased by 17 percent over last year, when 92,000 households participated.
Debate on the bill started in the House at about 12:20 p.m., as the Senate started to honor those lawmakers who are departing the chamber after not seeking reelection. The bill passed at 4:30, and the Senate, which has a current 23-13 Democratic majority, continued its homage to the eight departing members until 7:45.
State Rep. Toni Walker, D-New Haven, co-chairwoman of the budget writing Appropriations Committee and state Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, co-chairwoman of the tax-writing Finance Committee, said during the floor debates that the exact number of people applying for the heating assistance might not be known until the new year.
While Republicans clamored for more relief from the gasoline tax, state Rep. John Fonfara, DHartford, stressed that for now, even with multi-billion-dollar surpluses projected in the current budget, the gasoline tax should be brought back slowly, to assure the state’s fund for transportation improvements.
“We need a sustainable revenue stream in order to do that,” Fonfara said.
“We were a leader in suspending the gas tax,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney, D-New Haven, stressing that when the newly elected legislature meets in January, it can revisit the issues. “None of this forecloses further action. We know these are uncertain times.”
State Sen. Julie Kushner, DDanbury, co-chairwoman of the legislative Labor and Public Employees Committee, said that she was disappointed by the low levels of one-time payments some workers who helped the state get through the worst of the pandemic will receive. “I think many will feel more insulted than thanked,” Kushner said.
State Sen. Saud Anwar, DSouth Windsor, said that the problem with rising gasoline prices has been the profit margins of the major oil companies. “It is actually the corporate greed that is doing it,” Anwar said.
“While I think we all wish we could do more to help everyone, I think we’re taking a big step,” said Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk.
“While this is good, we can do better,” Kelly said, claiming that the state’s robust surpluses are fed by “over-taxing” state residents to the tune of about $18 million a month.
Kelly warned that the state Department of Social Services will not expand heating benefits, so some families will get enough to buy half a tank of oil, which is bound to be burned up quickly. In 2019 the federally funded heating program totaled about $82 million, which rose to about $118 in 2021 and $140 last year. But federal support was reduced by 40 percent earlier this year. The state will transfer $30 million from an account in the state comptroller’s office to supplement it to the $128 million, Osten said.