CT residents may see rebate checks in mail but no help at the pump yet

Hartford Courant – Thursday, March 26, 2026
By Christopher Keating

Connecticut property owners could receive one-time tax rebates of several hundred dollars in the mail under a new plan being debated at the state Capitol.

While the deal is not settled, House Speaker Matt Ritter of Hartford said Wednesday that he is working to deliver more tax relief than Gov. Ned Lamont’s original rebate plan of $200 per person before the November election. Ritter is a strong advocate of sending checks directly to taxpayers, rather than having them check off a box on their income tax return for a credit that they might not immediately notice.

Ritter’s proposal came several hours before the legislature’s nonpartisan fiscal office projected an operating deficit of nearly $30 million in the state’s general fund — a sharp contrast from the booming surpluses of the past seven years. One of the key problems is that the corporate profits tax has been weak, slicing projections by $75 million.

At the same time, Lamont’s idea for a gasoline tax rebate remains in flux as prices have soared due to the war in Iran as the United States and Israel have continued bombing the country in the Middle East. After Lamont floated the idea, some Democrats were cool to the proposal, saying that the potential cuts in gasoline and diesel taxes would also help out-of-state drivers and tractor-trailer operators who would gas up in Connecticut. The idea, officials said, could be reinstated if gasoline prices suddenly skyrocket again to $4 or $5 per gallon.

About five hours after Ritter’s statements, the state Senate’s two top leaders, President Pro Tempore Martin Looney of New Haven and Majority Leader Bob Duff of Norwalk, called upon Lamont to use his powers that were granted by the legislature “to implement a one-month holiday on the 25-cent-per-gallon excise tax on gasoline without delay.” The plan would not require any further action by the legislature because lawmakers voted in February to give Lamont authority over a $500 million federal response fund that currently has more than $300 million remaining. A one-month gas tax holiday would cost about $40 million.

Ritter emphasized that he has not determined the final totals as the rebate plan is still being crafted.

“I think you will see substantial, targeted credits well above the numbers that were floated in January,” Ritter said, referring to Lamont’s $200 per person proposal. “Substantial targeted tax checks to people. … Stay tuned.”

Ritter added, “It’s not feel-good. This will be meaningful relief for middle-class families in the state of Connecticut. I think we’ll look at the income levels, for sure. … Just stay tuned. Just a couple of days to iron it out. It’s one-time, which is what stimulus is meant to be.”

The legislature’s tax-writing finance committee is expected to vote on the proposal next week, and the final negotiations on Lamont’s $28.7 billion proposed budget are expected to be completed before the legislative session adjourns on May 6.

But Republicans strongly oppose the one-time rebate idea, saying it is an election-year gimmick.

“We’re hearing a lot about spending, a lot about giving money out to people, but not a lot of conversation about sustainability and actually fixing the problems in the state of Connecticut,” said House Republican leader Vincent Candelora of North Branford.

“House Republicans want sustainable, permanent tax relief,” Candelora said. “We don’t want one-time gimmicks. That’s what we’re seeing with the Democrats because they are more interested in creating sustainable spending for government programs and for state workers, but when it comes to the taxpayer, they just want to throw them a bone for the November election.”

Candelora cautioned that the state’s large budget surpluses of the past seven years may be coming to an end due to economic volatility as thousands of residents are preparing their annual April 15 income tax returns. The stock market has taken hits since the Iran War began, and various indexes are down from their peak levels.

“I think our April numbers aren’t going to look so good,” Candelora told reporters before the fiscal deficit was announced. “You have a budget this year that is almost slipping into deficit. It was projected to have almost a $400 million surplus, and we’re down” from the earliest estimates.

The latest projections by the state comptroller in early March called for surpluses of $77 million in the general fund and $46 million in the once-troubled Special Transportation Fund. But the surplus projection for the general fund had been as high as $380 million near the start of the current fiscal year.

Under the nuances of the complicated state budget, officials are still planning to set aside $1.8 billion in “volatility” money that was collected largely from the record-breaking stock market before the Iran War started on Feb. 28. The quarterly tax payments in the “volatility” category are made chiefly by millionaires and billionaires in Fairfield County. Part of the volatility money would be used to pay off the nearly $30 million operating deficit in the general fund.

Noting that discussion of the gas-tax rebate has disappeared at the Capitol, Candelora said he had not been summoned to the governor’s office for a nuts-and-bolts meeting on how and when the gasoline tax could be cut.

“It’s his initiative. It’s his proposal,” Candelora said of Lamont. “I think the Speaker has different priorities, and I understand that. But I think when the governor says I’m going to talk with the leaders, he should follow through with that and get us in a room to have a conversation. Going to the podium and throwing out another idea to spend money, and then not following through, is disappointing.”

Rob Blanchard, Lamont’s chief spokesman, said the legislature has “other forms of relief in mind” that will be negotiated in the coming weeks before the session ends.

Ritter, who paid $3.90 per gallon recently for his car, said he understands Lamont’s position.

“I’ve had many ideas that have crashed or were not going anywhere,” Ritter said. “We’re a month away from a final budget, so the timing was a little off. Where is that funding going to come from? Other citizens from other states can take advantage of it. It’s not the most progressive tax credit. … The fact that we’re doing a budget in the next four weeks, where I think you will see real relief for residents, I think we feel like we will take care of our Connecticut residents.”

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