Bysiewicz to cast tiebreaking vote for tolls
Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz is ready to cast the deciding vote to break a tie in favor of placing trucks-only tolls on state highways, and that’s exactly her plan for next week.
It would be Bysiewicz’s first vote in the Senate since she took office along with Gov. Ned Lamont 13 months ago.
“All of us are in public service to do the right thing, to do the difficult thing, and the right thing isn’t always easy,” Bysiewicz said Thursday. “I think that people want to support elected officials in public office who stand up, who speak out and who do things that are difficult and fight for things they believe in.”
If the vote goes as expected, leaders in the Senate will have precisely 18 of their members voting yes when the controversial bill comes up after many hours of debate. Four will vote no, along with all 14 Republican members of the chamber.
It would be the first time the veteran Democrat, who was Secretary of the State from 1999 to 2011, casts a lawmaking vote this century. She last voted in the General Assembly as a member of the House of Representatives from Middletown in 1998.
Both chambers have been told by leaders to be ready for a tolls vote on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. The bill calls for tolls ranging from $6 to $13 for large, mostly interstate trucks on a dozen bridges throughout the state, a move estimated to raise $172 million a year for the state’s Special Transportation Fund.
With a 22-14 Democratic majority, Bysiewicz has not yet been called upon to break a tie in the Senate, where she is the presiding officer. Her predecessor, Nancy Wyman, now the state party chair, cast a tie-breaking vote many times during her tenure — the number is believed to be 18. The Senate was divided equally along party lines in
2017 and 2018.
The plan to have Bysiewicz break a tie serves multiple purposes.
First, as it happens, four Democrats in the Senate are believed to be opposed to the tolls plan: Julie Kushner of Danbury, Mae Flexer of Killingly, Joan Hartley of Waterbury and Alex Bergstein of Greenwich. Bergstein favors broader tolling and has spoken out against a
10-year ban on car tolling written into the bill.
Sources familiar with discussions at the Capitol said earlier this week, House and Senate emissaries presented their vote counts to each other with the governor’s office involved in the exchange.
That move was designed to end weeks of mistrust in which each chamber balked at being first to tally a tolls vote. Many Democrats are willing to support tolls but don’t want to cast an unpopular vote, only to have the other chamber fail to pass the measure. The Senate vote count totaled 18 and the House count was more than the 76 names needed.
But even if one of the Senate Democratic holdouts were to agree to vote for tolls, the leadership may allow one of the willing supporters to vote no — as there are several who will likely face tough re-election challenges against anti-tolls Republicans.
And for Bysiewicz, a tolls supporter, the vote would be an honor.
“I am happy and pleased to be able to cast a vote that is going to help our economy, reduce commute time for people, put a long-term fiscally responsible solution in place and help our environment,” Bysiewicz said.
It’s been a year since Gov. Ned Lamont originally proposed broad tolling on all cars and trucks on several highways, a move that set the stage for a long-term discussion about spending and priorities for the state’s transportation infrastructure.
Lawmakers ultimately declined to bring Lamont’s original proposal to a vote during last Spring’s General Assembly session, and declined to call a special session for a scaled down Lamont plan that still included all vehicles.
The plan that emerged is watered down yet more, resembling the trucks-only tolling Lamont originally campaigned on in 2018.
But even a narrow version of tolling has created a politically difficult vote for some legislators, as toll opponents remain steadfast against even a single toll on Connecticut roadways, arguing it would be the first step toward comprehensive tolling. The bill before the legislature would not allow car tolls without the passage of another law explicitly permitting them, and would require the car ban to be part of bond contracts.