Some lawmakers eye swap for backing tolls
Bridgeport legislators want East Side train station in return
BRIDGEPORT — As Gov. Ned Lamont courts votes for electronic highway tolls, some members of the city’s all-Democrat legislative delegation want a new East Side train station in exchange for their support.
“The Barnum Station figures heavily into these toll discussions,” state Rep. Christopher Rosario said Thursday. “If there’s an opportunity to use funds gathered from tolls to get that project moving, that will move the Bridgeport delegation.”
Rosario said he has long backed the concept of tolls to capture that revenue from out-of-state drivers.
Freshman state Sen. Dennis Bradley called tolls “without a doubt a tax on working class people” and said he would need assurances for the Barnum Station and other state investments in Bridgeport to reconsider.
“I cannot see myself voting for tolls when Bridgeport continues to be neglected the way it has been,” Bradley said.
First announced in 2014 by Gov. Dannel Malloy, a Democrat like Lamont, the East Side station was viewed by supporters as a catalyst for reviving that neighborhood’s economy and realizing the development potential of the vacant properties there.
But the $300 million project is in limbo because the state currently cannot afford it.
Toll proponents hope to raise $800 million annually to invest in Connecticut’s
infrastructure. Whether that money could be directly spent on projects like a Barnum Station, or free up other funds for the train station, was not immediately clear.
And what influence Bridgeport’s state lawmakers have on the tolls debate remains to be seen, in part because of Democratic gains in last November’s elections. During the 2018 legislative session a united Bridgeport delegation wielded more influence because the Republican minority enjoyed greater numbers, particularly in the Senate, which was at the time tied.
Still, with Republicans seemingly united against tolls and some Democrats wavering, Lamont cannot afford to lose many votes.
That was evident Wednesday when the governor tried to rally Democrats in the House of Representatives. In an address that was open to the media, the governor admitted “I put you in a tough vote” because he had campaigned on tolling trucks only.
“It’s the most important vote you’re gonna take, and I’m gonna be standing there with each and every one of you,” Lamont said.
On the sidelines
Even though Bridgeport legislators are involved in the behind-the-scenes toll machinations at the Capitol in Hartford, Connecticut’s largest city has been absent from the public pro-and-con debate raging for the last few months.
Democratic Mayor Joe Ganim, while running against Lamont in last year’s gubernatorial primary, favored the concept of tolls, but he has not publicly staked out a recent position. Neither did he nor his office return requests for comment Thursday.
Meanwhile, other big city mayors — Toni Harp of New Haven, Luke Bronin of Hartford and David Martin of Stamford — co-signed a letter this week urging Lamont and the General Assembly’s Democratic and Republican leaders “to make the tough choices that our state needs now and support passage of tolling legislation this session in order to course-correct and reposition Connecticut as an economic stronghold on the East Coast.”
And unlike in some other municipalities such as Stamford, Bridgeport’s all-Democrat City Council has not passed a resolution for or against tolls, though at least a few of the members harbor reservations.
“They’re a regressive tax,” Councilman Kyle Langan said Thursday. “A tolls system hurts the people with lower incomes most.”
And while the Fairfield County Business Council has gotten behind tolls, the Bridgeport Regional Business Council and the Bridgeport Chamber of Commerce have not taken a side.
On Thursday, Dan Onofrio, the new president of the BRBC, and Frank Borres who runs the chamber, said part of the problem is the lack of specifics coming from the Capitol in Hartford.
“I think everyone recognizes there’s a significant need for improvements in our transportation network,” Onofrio said. “(But) there’s so much information out there that’s a little fuzzy.”
“It just seems like the governor hasn’t provided a real clear policy,” Borres said. “There’s no way we could take a stance.”
But both business leaders admitted there is division within their ranks over the impact of tolls.
“Folks in the business community with fleets of trucks and sales representatives that travel throughout the state in company cars, they’re trying to figure out what’s the impact to my business,” Onofrio said.
Borres added, “Personally, I would be for the tolls if I really thought the money was just for transportation and the money was well spent in Hartford. But I have no proof of that.”
Give and take
Though a majority of Bridgeport’s state lawmakers back the concept of tolls, they are not united over what, if anything, should be done to alleviate the financial burden on residents.
State Sen. Marilyn Moore, a close ally of Lamont’s who is challenging Ganim for mayor, dismissed criticism that tolls will hurt low income households.
“Anybody who is low income, it means they’re making a minimum wage job, which means they’re working locally. ... I don’t think the majority travel beyond maybe a 10 or 15 mile radius,” she said.
But Rosario is pushing for legislative language that alleviates the cost of tolls for “folks living below the poverty line” and also supports Lamont’s bid to reduce bus fares from $1.75 to $1 if tolls go forward.
Moore also called the governor’s efforts to find ways of discounting Connecticut drivers as much as 50 percent “generous.”
But state Rep. Charlie Stallworth, who is also running for mayor, said Thursday that state residents should be fully reimbursed for whatever they spend on tolls with “a tax refund or something so we really only charge out of state people coming through.”
Besides the East Side station, Bradley wants the state to help reduce Bridgeport’s high property taxes.
“It makes no sense for Bridgeport to be supportive if we’re not getting something that helps alleviate that burden,” he said.
The newest member of Bridgeport’s delegation, state Rep. Antonio Felipe — elected last week to replace the late Ezequiel Santiago — said during the campaign he would vote for tolls if there was a reduction in the car tax.
State Rep. Jack Hennessy said he has “absolutely” heard from constituents worried tolls will make Connecticut more expensive.
“But I have always been a ‘yes’ vote on this,” Hennessy said. “We are at a place that we either do something or we (borrow) $800 million a year and then put the price tag on future generations. ... In my mind that’s not a solution.”