From the Advocate:

About a month ago, Dave Lewis, owner of the BP gas station at 452 Westport Ave., decided exorbitant prices at the pump required drastic measures.

Although his contract with his gasoline distributor prohibits it, Lewis decided to provide a discount to customers who fueled up using cash instead of credit cards.

“I asked them six months ago, and they said ‘No way,’ ” Lewis said about the distributor. “I did it and never told them.”

Lewis’ distributor may have little time left to intervene.

During Wednesday’s marathon special session in Hartford, legislators passed a bill that, once signed by Gov. M. Jodi Rell, immediately would void the sections of gas station contracts prohibiting discounts for cash.

“The governor . . . supports the concept,” Rell spokesman Adam Liegeot said yesterday. “She just wants to read the final version of the bill before announcing she will sign it.”

At most gas stations, the transaction fees that credit card companies impose are shared by all motorists, regardless of how they pay.

Cash discounts basically cut those fees for customers using cash and transfer them to people who pay with plastic.

In Lewis’ case, that means his current prices for regular gasoline are $4.33 per gallon for cash and $4.47 for credit.

Michael Fox, executive director of Stamford-based Gasoline and Automotive Service Dealers of America, said if Rell signs the bill – which Fox said he believes is the first in the nation – drivers won’t see

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