HARTFORD, CT - Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy signed a bill yesterday capping the state tax on the wholesale price of gasoline when it reaches $3 a gallon, WTNH.com reports.

The move, according to WTNH.com, would save motorists now roughly 1.5 cents per gallon.

Connecticut??s gross receipts tax adds about 7% to the price of gas, while the new law caps the upper limit of that tax to roughly 22 cents a gallon.

The benefits of the change are modest, WTNH.com notes, "only going down enough to save customers about a penny and a half per gallon."

State Sen. Len Suzio, sponsor of the bill, conceded the savings is modest, but he said this is just the beginning of his fight to lower the gas tax, with the next round addressing taxes during the higher traffic months of July and August.

"So I want to provide relief for those two months by reducing the petroleum gross receipts tax down from 7.5% to 2%," he said. "That will save Connecticut consumers about 15 or 16 cents a gallon in addition to what they've going to save with the cap."

Suzio said that would provide welcome relief to motorists, though still leave the state with much higher gas tax rates than its neighbors.

"Right now we are losers big time. We are 30 cents more expensive than Massachusetts and we are about 20 cents a gallon more expensive than Rhode Island. That hurts our gas stations," Suzio said.