The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Dems to Lamont: Scrap cars, toll trucks only
HARTFORD — House Democrats told Gov. Ned Lamont on Tuesday that car tolls are off the table.
House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz asked Lamont to consider truckonly tolls on 12 to 14 bridges that are part of the governor’s transportation plan.
House leadership would eliminate the tolls on Route 9 and the Wilbur Cross and Merritt Parkways.
“We appreciate Gov. Lamont’s continued commitment to fixing Connecticut’s transportation system,” Aresimowicz said. “Our caucus feels strongly that we must make investments in our roads, bridges and trains to grow our economy, but that tolling cars is not the way forward.”
Lamont had campaigned on truckonly tolls only to shift his position shortly after being sworn into office. He did not immediately respond to the announcement Tuesday.
“A guiding principle of CT2030 is a dedicated revenue stream, which in large part comes from outofstate drivers,” Lamont said in a statement. “This proposal adheres to that basic principle, albeit to a lesser extent, but is a concept that the governor has explored in the past and one that should be considered among the other plans.”
Lamont said he’s recommending that all caucuses be prepared to bring these proposals to a meeting in his office as soon as possible.
“Trucks do 80 percent of the damage to our roads and bridges and many come from out of state,” Ritter said. “We believe that truckonly tolls on select bridges, in a manner similar to what other states do, are legal and will provide Connecticut with the revenue stream needed to secure low interest federal transportation loans.”
Aresimowicz and Ritter believe the new proposal for truckonly tolls avoids the potential legal peril that was faced by the governor’s original plan for truckonly tolls on the interstate highway system by placing truckonly tolls on select bridges. It also heads off any concerns about tolling passenger vehicles, according to the
Democrats.
“I’m sick of people talking about camels and their noses and proverbial tents, or slippery slopes,” Ritter said. “Tolling trucks has nothing to do with tolling cars — this is a completely separate issue. There is no tent. There is no slope. I want elected officials to answer this question: Is tolling trucks a good idea or a bad idea — period.”
The tolls would be used as the revenue stream to access lowinterest loans through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Build America Bureau.
“Time is of the essence. It would be fiscal mismanagement to miss this opportunity to secure federal funds at these incredibly low rates. Rates change every day,”
Aresimowicz said.
Under the proposal, truckonly tolling rates would be similar to rates in New York. The Connecticut Department of Transportation has estimated that truckonly tolls could raise approximately $150 million annually.
Aresimowicz and Ritter said the Senate Republican plan, which includes no tolls, is a nonstarter for them because it would remove about $1.6 billion from the Rainy Day Fund.
“We have caucus members who remember when the state raided the rainy day fund in 200708 to the tune of $1.4 billion,” Ritter said. “We have spent the last decade slowly rebuilding our reserves and our reputation on Wall Street.”
Fasano has maintained it’s not a raid on the Rainy Day Fund because the money, through budget constraints passed in 2017, would replenish the fund by 2024.
Joe Sculley, president of the Motor Transport Association of Connecticut, said his members already pay to use the roads.
“Connecticut has collected about $25 to $30 million annually from outofstate trucks through the International Fuel Tax Agreement and the International Registration Program. Additionally, the trucking industry in Connecticut pays 32 percent of all road taxes owed by Connecticut motorists, even though the industry accounts for only 5 percent of vehicle miles traveled in the state.
“As the trucking industry already pays the diesel tax, the Petroleum Gross Receipts Tax, and vehicle registration fees, tolls would be a fourth tax for the privilege of using what we have already paid for,” Sculley has said.