Sen. Harding Pushing for CT Tax Relief and Electric Rate Relief Solutions

“We have the highest electricity costs in the continental United States,” Harding lamented.

What can be done?

He said that he supports a proposal by state Sen. Ryan Fazio (R-36) of Greenwich to take state taxes and fees embedded in electricity bills that are related to boding and other programs and shift them to the normal state appropriations process where those costs and benefits will be weighed fairly and openly against other programs that are needed in the state budget.

“In six months [it would] reduce people’s electricity bills by 10 percent,” Fazio remarked in a recent interview with Patch.com.

“Ryan’s plan makes sense,” Harding explained.

Mark Pazniokas of CT Mirror has reported that U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Greenwich told the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority in 2020 that, “We need to think big about becoming smaller, more responsive and smarter about the way we do public utilities and deliver power.”

Harding said he supports Blumenthal’s call for breaking up the electricity monopoly in Connecticut.

“It is quite clear that Eversource in not operating in the best interest of our constituents,” he commented.

Since the state has a surplus and flush rainy day fund, he said he supports the governor’s call to lower the middle class income tax rate from five percent to 4.5 percent and the lower rate from three percent to two percent.

However, he said he also likes the plan from state Rep. Bob Godfrey’s (D-110) to reduce the sales tax from 6.35 to six percent during this time of high inflation.

“I think we should explore doing both,” Harding commented. “I would like to see the numbers, and see if we can do both reasonably.”

https://patch.com/connecticut/brookfield/harding-hearing-constituents-electricity-bills