Harding calls for at least a two-month gas tax holiday

By Scott Benjamin

MORRIS – When Stephen Harding was a kid, the Yankees captured four world championships under Joe Torre, the federal government had budget surpluses and the United States hadn’t entered into Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China.

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But while in college there was a subprime mortgage crisis and the Great Recession.

About the time he graduated from law school the national unemployment rate had improved, but was still at 7.7 percent.

He was a state representative when the pandemic caused economic chaos.

In 2022, about the time he launched his first state Senate campaign, inflation was higher than any time since the stagflation 1970s.

Now, as the war in Iran continues, gasoline prices are climbing toward $5 a gallon.

Wall Street Journal columnist Joseph C. Sternberg wrote in his 2019 book, “The Theft Of A Decade,” that millennials have entered their careers without affordable home ownership options and the lack of a stable job market.

In a five-minute acceptance speech Tuesday night, May 19, Harding, 38, who is the state Senate Republican leader and serves the 30^th District, said he will continue to seek to lower costs and reduce electric bills in the state that has the second highest rates in the country.

In an interview with Patch.com, Harding of Brookfield said the General Assembly should enact a temporary gas tax holiday.

Gas currently has a 25-cent a gallon tax and diesel fuel has a 49-cent per gallon levy.

“There is currently about a $60 million surplus in the special transportation fund that would more than offset two months of a gas tax holiday,” he declared. “There is zero reason as to why [the majority Democrats] are not doing this.”

He said one of the arguments is that “some other residents from other states might benefit from it. But also, we may have the benefit of additional revenue from residents of other states coming to pump their gas here.”

The state had a gas tax holiday from April to December 2022 during the inflation surge.

Harding said action is just as “pertinent” now.

“We can go at least two months and then explore as to where we are with revenue to determine if we want to go further.,” he exclaimed.

Harding, seeking a third term, will face former Brookfield Democratic Town Committee Chairman Aaron Zimmer in the November 3 election. The Democrats have not won the seat since 1978. The district stretches through a combined 18 towns and small cities in the northwest part of Connecticut.

The Democrats are attempting to make Republican President Donald Trump a prominent feature in the campaign.

The current Real Clear Politics Average shows that Trump has a 39.9 percent approval rating and a 57.3 percent disapproval figure.

Recently, Brookfield Democratic Town Committee Chairman Shannon Riley noted that Harding was a delegate who voted for Trump at the 2024 Republican national convention.

In 2006 Chris Cillizza wrote in the Washington Post when George W. Bush’s poll numbers were plummeting during the War in Iraq, “Unless your name is Jodi Rell [the popular Republican incumbent governor from Brookfield] it is not a good year to be running as a Republican in Connecticut.”

Is the GOP facing similar circumstances this year holding no state offices, no U.S. House or Senate seats and are outnumbered slightly better than two-to-one in the state House and Senate?

John Morris of Litchfield has served on the Republican State Central Committee since 1991, longer than any of the current members.

In an interview after giving the nominating speech for Harding, Morris said, “I think [Trump’s] policies are great.”

As for the president’s low popularity, Morris added, “We have to have a successful conclusion of the Iran War. That will certainly turn things around.”

Regarding costs, Harding said he supports the recent initiative by the New England governors to invest more resources into nuclear energy.

“I think it is an affordable alternative that is relatively green,” he commented. “It certainly is a better investment than offshore wind and solar.”

If Republicans want to help consumers, why not seek to abolish the minimum pricing on liquor in which prices cannot drop below a certain level?

Harding remarked, “The smaller stores feared the large conglomerate liquor sellers would overtake the market and monopolize it. We have to be cognizant of it from the perspective of small business owners.”

“More importantly, from a monopoly perspective, if you only have a few whole-sellers selling,” he explained. “They may come in at a lower cost, but if the small stores are out of the market, those large whole-sellers can dominate the market and then increase fees beyond what they are now.”

Said Harding, “I think we have to be pragmatic in the long term in how we approach this.”

However, the government doesn’t have similar restrictions in the hardware market for Loews and Home Depot.

Harding remarked, “Every product is different. I think liquor is a different product because of its effect and its age limits and how regulated it is. You have to look at every industry separately in how it is regulated.”

On another topic, the state House approved a ban on smart phones in public schools during the recent session but the bill was not voted on in the state Senate.

Harding asserted, “I believe cell phones have become an extreme distraction. Unfortunately it has become a form of bullying in the schools. I’ve heard it first-hand from parents. I’ve hears it first-hand from middle school and high school students.”

“There should be exceptions,” Harding said. “There are emergency circumstances where students can check in with their parents and parents can check in with their children.”

Who is a better player: Aaron Judge or Derek Jeter?

Harding commented, “Aaron Judge will go down as one of the greatest players who ever played the game. I loved Derek Jeter. He played a huge role in my childhood growing up as Yankee fan in the ‘90s. He’s not one of the greatest players of all time. He’s one of the greatest Yankees of all time.”

However, Jeter played 19 full seasons and with 3,465 hits, he’s sixth all-time.

Harding said with Judge currently at 384 home runs and only in the fourth year of a nine-year contract he will probably finish in similar company on the all-time homer list.

The senator added that now in his 10^th full season in the major leagues, Judge’s accomplishments are more impressive than Jeter’s were after 10 campaigns. For example, Judge has won three American League Most Valuable Player awards and a batting title. Jeter did not win an MVP award or capture a batting crown.

Remarked Harding, “They are two different hitters. Jeter was a contact hitter and Judge is Central Casting for a power hitter. Aaron Judge is a better overall athlete and baseball player.”