A TCI Gas Tax on STEROIDS is looming! 

This is the ‘TCI Gas Tax on steroids.’ For those who may not remember, Connecticut nearly entered the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI), but the initiative was defeated due to citizen pressure. However, this bad idea has returned from the dead, with the legislature proposing to abdicate its authority to the unaccountable Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) Commissioner. If S.B. 1145 passes, DEEP will have the power to force Connecticut into regional emissions programs that will raise the cost of energy in our state.

Read Carol Liebau's op-ed in the Hartford Courant: A CT proposal that would not move the carbon needle a millimeter.

• "SB 1145’s proponents are asking a great deal of us. We are expected to surrender any ability to control future fuel tax increases through the democratic process. We are asked to endure higher fuel costs (and continued inflation), or else submit to an eroding quality of life where we are hotter in the summer and colder in the winter. And as we make fuel more expensive in Connecticut, we make our business climate less competitive, and incentivize residents to flee to other, less expensive states."

Before this legislation made it out of the Committee on Environment, a significant change to this legislation following pushback from public hearing testimony -- including VP Regulatory Affairs for the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute Greg Knott's thoughtful opposition. Before the change, Connecticut would have enforced California's overly burdensome emissions regulations on simple items like personal lawnmowers that everyday people use to make their lives just a little bit better.  If the committee was wise enough to remove this from the initial legislation, why should the General Assembly grant this unilateral authority to the DEEP Commissioner?

Help fight back again!

Fill out the form and tell lawmakers to VOTE NO S.B. 1145.