Which lawmaker will propose eliminating the “hidden tax” on cable and satellite television?

State Sen. Len Suzio, R-Meriden and Michael Fox, head of the Stamford-based Gasoline and Automotive Service Dealers of America, have teamed to force the legislature and governor to take a hard look at Connecticut’s so-called “hidden” gas tax.

The state has two gas taxes – a flat .25 tax on gasoline sales and a fluctuating gross receipts tax on wholesale gas purchases. This second tax, which increases with the price of gas, is passed along by distributors to motorists.

Suzio and Fox want to cap the latter and have launched a petition drive to convince state lawmakers to get it done in the upcoming 2012 session.

But the gross receipts tax is not the only “hidden tax” on the state’s books. A similar tax is passed along by cable and satellite television services to their customers.

There have been seven efforts to eliminate this tax since 2000 and all have failed. How do I know that? Because the state Office of Legislative Research late last month produced a report on the tax, likely at the request of a lawmaker interested in making an eighth push to kill it.

Brian Lockhart