Sen. Jeff Gordon Opposes Omnibus Aircraft Carrier Bill During Special Session that Passed Car Tax Hike

HARTFORD, CT – Today, Senator Jeff Gordon (R-Woodstock) voted in opposition to S.B. 501, an aircraft carrier bill that was called during the Special Senate Legislative Session. The majority Democrats ultimately passed a car tax rate hike for Connecticut residents and several non-urgent pieces of legislation.

Sen. Gordon said, “Special sessions are to be used for legitimate ’emergency’ reasons, not to push through political agendas that did not pass during a regular session. I proposed that the Legislature should focus on true ’emergency’ issues, such as election security and safety, helping the family of Connecticut SP Trooper Pelletier (who died in the line of duty) get a state pension that current law denies them, and funding the special education costs of special education our towns are struggling to afford.

Sen. Gordon continued, “Additionally, multiple, unrelated items were crammed into one big bill and presented as a single up or down vote. This was done when the public was not looking, could not provide input, and did not know what was happening. Yet, this is what the Democrats did. It is wrong and I strongly fought against it.”

Before Sen. Gordon joined the Legislature, the law about car taxes was changed in 2022 to increase the percentage of the manufacturer’s suggested retail price of motor vehicles that towns could use to assess taxes. This law goes into effect this year. A problem was created that would unfairly hit commercial vehicle owners by requiring them to report these vehicles on personal property tax forms. This needed to be fixed. Everyone agreed. Yet the 137-page bill made available today that passed went far beyond that.

“I stated during my Senate speech that we should focus on what needs to be done, not muddy the waters with extraneous items. Common sense dictates that we keep things simple. Fix what needs to be fixed. Not make things worse for people by hiking car taxes on hard-working residents, families, and retirees during a time of high living costs and the tax burdens that we all feel each day,” said Sen. Gordon.

Today, Democrats increased that assessment across the board. Connecticut Republicans proposed to stop that from happening. On a party-line vote, the Democrats voted no. They voted to increase your car taxes.

Sen. Gordon said, “I am proud to be fighting to make Connecticut more affordable for more people. Historic income tax cuts were enacted last year. Retirement accounts had taxes cut. More funding for public education was put into place to help our towns. More needs to be done and I will continue to fight for it.”