Gov. Ned Lamont continues to push for a gas tax holiday, even though the proposal appears to have little momentum in the legislature.  

Lamont (D-Connecticut) first floated the idea during a press conference on March 10, saying it could help drivers facing rising gas prices amid the ongoing war in Iran.  

He told reporters at the Capitol on Thursday that he remains keen on the idea.  

“I’ve got 500 million (dollars) I can help people with, and I say sooner rather than later,” Lamont said.  

A holiday would pause the 25-cent-per-gallon tax on gasoline and the 49-cent-per-gallon tax on diesel.  

The average gas price in Connecticut on Thursday was $3.74, according to AAA, up from $3 per gallon a year ago.  

Lawmakers were receptive to the idea when it was first floated, but on Thursday, they said it was part of broader budget talks.  

“We’ll see how that works out in the budget,” Sen. Bob Duff (D-Majority Leader) said. “We’ll see how that works in the next few weeks.”  

Duff and his Senate Democratic colleagues have proposed a package that includes more sales tax exemptions, a higher property tax credit, and additional tax breaks for renters and low-income families.  

Senate Republicans made a similar pitch in a letter to Lamont on Wednesday, using the proposal as an invitation to talk about their call to use $1.6 billion in budget surplus funds to pay for tax cuts.  

The estimated average tax cuts of $1,500 per person match what Sen. Ryan Fazio (R-Greenwich) has proposed on the campaign trail.  

“It is possible, and not very difficult, to pay for tax relief in the long run if you reduce the growth of spending in the state budget,” Fazio said.  

Senate Republicans have suggested budget cuts in future years could help make their tax cut permanent.  

Lamont on Thursday reiterated his desire for a vote on the gas tax soon. He noted the House and Senate are set to vote next week on some judicial nominations.  

“So there’s certainly a way to vote on it if the leaders want to vote on it,” Lamont said.  

Lamont’s budget proposal includes setting aside $500 million in surplus funds to offer a one-time $200 tax rebate to most people, but he has since suggested the state could draw from that same fund to offset revenue lost by a gas tax holiday.  

He repeated his concerns Thursday about other tax relief proposals, mainly those he questions the sustainability of. 

The state is looking at a $1.6 billion surplus this year in tax revenues from certain unpredictable streams, including income tax from investors.  

A volatility cap limits how much the state can spend from those streams, leading to this year’s surplus. Unspent money goes into the Rainy Day Fund and toward pension debt. 

Senate Democrats and Republicans have both targeted that same surplus to pay for their tax relief plans.  

House Democrats, meanwhile, suggested the state could use some of Lamont’s proposed $500 million pool to increase education aid.  

“Everybody says I want something structural and long-term,” Lamont said Thursday. “That means structural deficits that are long-term. I don’t want that to happen.”  

The state is in the middle of a two-year budget, but the legislature typically makes changes to that second year.  

The legislature’s Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee has until April 1 to present and propose tax changes, while the Appropriations Committee’s deadline to approve a spending plan is the following day.  

If lawmakers choose to present a plan that differs from Lamont’s, the two sides will likely negotiate a compromise before the legislature votes.  

Those talks typically go until late in the session, which ends May 6 this year. If a gas tax holiday is part of the budget plan, it may not take effect until late spring or early summer.  

There’s a mix of sun and clouds, and temperatures are cooler than normal on Thursday.

High temperatures are in the mid-40s. A lot of clouds came through overnight, so the day is a little grey at the start.

Friday will also be partly sunny with milder temperatures in the lower 50s, cooler at the shoreline. There will be showers late in the afternoon and into the evening on Friday.

Showers will be gone by Saturday, and highs will be near 60 degrees.

Temperatures will likely stay near 60 through the weekend. There may be another batch of rain on Sunday night.

It will be much colder on Monday morning.

Democrats passed bills on homeschooling and vaccines through key committees today, sending them to the full legislature for votes.  

One bill would require homeschool families to show that they are providing “equivalent instruction,” a response to two high-profile incidents involving households that pulled their children from public schools.  

Meanwhile, two other bills would give the public health commissioner more authority over vaccines.  

The Education Committee started the day on Tuesday morning with a debate on several bills, including the equivalent instruction proposal.  

Rep. Jennifer Leeper (D-Fairfield), a co-chair of the committee, said the bill would provide protections when families pull their kids from school.  

“What we are trying to do is have some system for the people who are withdrawing children to hide neglect and abuse,” she said.  

The Department of Children and Families has been receiving scrutiny for two incidents over the past year.  

One case involved the death of 11-year-old Mimi Torres Garcia. In the other, a Watebury man named S. claimed he set fire to his family’s home to bring attention to decades of abuse.  

Family members are facing criminal charges related to each incident.  

In both cases, the families pulled their kids from school and had contact with DCF. S.’s family claimed they were homeschooling him.  

This bill would require families, starting in the 2028-29 school year, to provide annual proof that they are educating their children if they opt for homeschooling.  

Options can include taking a standardized test or submitting a portfolio of lessons and work. Families who currently homeschool their children would be exempt, as the bill applies only to those who make that choice once the law takes effect.  

Dozens of homeschooling families came to the legislative office building to protest the vote, which passed 26-20.  

“This is completely turning upside down the whole authority when it comes to parents and the state over our children,” Ken Farrington, of Naugatuck, said.  

The bill would also require DCF to check if a family has an active case anytime a family notifies a public school that they are withdrawing their children.  

Meanwhile, the public health committee passed two bills giving the public health commissioner more freedom to purchase vaccines.  

Sen. Saud Anwar, (D-South Windsor), said the goal is to allow the commissioner to acquire vaccines, even if the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention no longer recommend the vaccines.  

He expressed concern about changes to vaccine guidance under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy, Jr.  

 “If you do not have the CDC on board and the ACIP (Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices) on board, the state of Connecticut cannot buy those vaccines,” Anwar said. “So this law allows us to buy the vaccines.”  

But Sen. Heather Somers, (R-Groton), said she’s not aware of any reason the public health commissioner is not allowed to do that now.  

Republicans object to language that would bolster the attorney general’s ability to defend a state law ending the religious exemption to vaccines for students.  

“That is just a complete fabrication of what this bill is about,” Somers said. “This bill is about stopping a lawsuit that the state of Connecticut is afraid they’re going to lose.”