Is $175 million too much to pay for a beer?

Did you know that passengers in a vehicle are allowed to sip an alcoholic beverage while traveling on Connecticut's roads? I'll be honest, I was surprised to find out that someone could crack a beer in a moving car.

Perhaps that's because in 38 other states, it's strictly forbidden. We're a national outlier since, for more than two decades, the federal government has strongly discouraged this practice. Experts argue that open alcoholic beverages increase the likelihood that drivers themselves will take a sip, and drunken driving laws become harder to enforce. More lives are lost. Here in Connecticut, our drunken driving numbers are trending in the wrong direction. In 2019, 98 out of 249 roadway fatalities involved alcohol-impaired drivers. In 2020, that number increased to 118 out of 299 fatalities.

Of course the potential loss of life is the most compelling reason for an overdue change in our laws. But I'd like to make another argument. As a penalty for allowing backseat drinking, the federal government diverts 3 percent of our transportation funding away from highway maintenance and improvement projects. That may seem like a small percentage, but it adds up quickly. I think most of my constituents would be outraged to know that we've forgone $175 million in infrastructure investments since 2001. With federal funding scheduled to increase by 38 percent thanks to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the quantity of diverted funds will only grow larger in the coming years.

Let's talk about the word “diverted.” Technically, we don't lose the funding completely. Instead, it's subtracted from Interstate Maintenance, National Highway System and Surface Transportation Program projects. Rather than being spent on those intended purposes, it's directed to driver education programs and hazard elimination. These may be important endeavors, but I'd argue that we should fund them by appropriating state dollars. My community rightly expects me to maximize the impact of every federal dollar in the gargantuan task of modernizing our infrastructure.

I'm sure sipping a beer in the backseat is fun. I've never done it myself, but I suppose I understand the appeal. Here's my question: Is that beer worth $175 million? Would you rather drink on your way to the tailgate, or would you prefer to address the choke points that will make you late to the game? Is it possible to truly enjoy an open container if you're hitting potholes and spilling all over the backseat?

During my time on the Transportation Committee, we've had a number of fights about how to increase funding for transportation investments and get our state moving. We've debated tolls, carbon emissions credits and more. Here, I believe we have an easier, less controversial solution. Let's put every federal dollar to good use and bring our roads into the 21st century.