Connecticut will temporarily suspend its 25-cent-per-gallon excise tax on gasoline after a bipartisan vote by state lawmakers Wednesday in an effort to ease pain at the pump for motorists.

The gas tax will be suspended from April 1 to June 30.

The House of Representatives voted 143-0 in favor of the emergency bill. Hours later, the Senate passed the proposal by a vote of 33-0. Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont is expected to sign the bill into law.

The legislation also establishes a second sales-tax-free week on clothing and footwear valued under $100 per item, beginning April 10. That’s in addition to the one typically held in August for back-to-school shoppers. Furthermore, the bill provides free bus service between now and June 30.

“These three things today, I believe, will help with the affordability crisis that’s happening here in the state and all across Connecticut,” said Rep. Sean Scanlon, D-Guilford, co-chair of the General Assembly’s Finance Revenue and Bonding Committee.

Connecticut is the latest state to consider suspending its gas taxes to give drivers a break from high prices, the result of pandemic-induced inflation and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Governors in Georgia and Maryland have enacted temporary gas tax freezes and other state legislators are considering similar moves.

Connecticut has two taxes that apply to motor fuels. They include the 25-cent-per-gallon motor vehicle fuels tax, typically referred to as the state’s gas tax, and the fluctuating petroleum products gross earnings tax.

Some Republican lawmakers questioned why more wasn’t being done, including scrapping a planned highway usage tax on large commercial vehicles that’s supposed to take effect in 2023. In the Senate, Democratic Sen. Cathy Osten of Sprague, the co-chair of the budget-writing committee, agreed with some of the GOP’s complaints and said lawmakers should exempt farmers from the highway use tax – an issue that could be revisited later during the legislative session.