6 ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST TOLLS
Both sides of the issue speak at public hearing
Few recent policy debates in Connecticut have been more divisive that tolls.
On Friday, the legislature’s transportation committee held a long and often contentious public hearing on Gov. Ned Lamont’s latest transportation plan. Under the proposal, the state would collect tolls from tractor-trailer trucks traveling on the state’s highways at 12 electronic gantries.
Several hundred people on both sides of the divide came to the Legislative Office Building. Some brought handmade signs declaring “No Tolls,” while others wore stickers that identified them as toll supporters.
A vote on truck-only tolls had been planned for next week, but that has been delayed to the week of Feb. 10. Democratic leaders said the vote was pushed back due to scheduling issues, not because of a lack of support.
“Some people just weren’t available in our caucus,” House Majority Leader Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, said. “That’s not a conspiracy. People do have lives, and they have plans.”
Below are some of the arguments supporters and critics put forth at Friday’s hearing:
Consumer goods prices will rise if trucks are tolled
Opponents say the cost of truck-only tolls will ultimately be born by Connecticut consumers. “It’s going to be passed along to the rest of us,” J.R. Heyel, a lawyer from Danbury, said as he waited outside the hearing room. “Your Starbucks coffee, your
grocery store bill … they’ll go up in price. The truck companies aren’t going to pay, we are.”
Susan Demers of Enfield agreed. “Practically everything we purchase is brought in by trucks,” she said. “The cost of living will go up for everybody in the state. Of course, wages don’t go up as fast as the cost of living goes up, so we’re struggling as a working class family.”
State needs reliable revenue stream to fund transportation
Supporters say tolls are needed to provide a reliable funding source to maintain and repair the state’s aging roads and bridges. Currently the state pays for highway infrastructure through a combination of transportationrelated taxes on gasoline, licenses and fines. But over the next decade, the state projects the growth in expenses will exceed the growth in revenue.
“Let me be clear: With current trends, the [Special Transportation Fund] will be in deficit starting in the fiscal year 2025,” Melissa McCaw, the governor’s budget director, told the transportation committee.
Tolls, McCaw and other supporters said, will help fill that gap.
Truck-only tolls are just the beginning
Several critics expressed skepticism that the legislature would limit tolls to trucks.
“I understand it’s trucks-only right now,” said Patrick Sasser, founder of No Tolls CT. “However we have seen what the real plan is, the governor showed it to us 30 days after taking office: to toll everyone. … That’s why we are all still fighting and so passionate.”
Tolls will create jobs
Dozens of trade unionists turned out for the hearing, telling lawmakers that tolls would help fund a highway construction boom that would spark an economic stimulus.
“This proposal offers a historic opportunity,” said Sal Luciano, president of the Connecticut AFL-CIO. “It authorizes unprecedented and long overdue investments in our state’s transportation infrastructure.”
The public doesn’t want tolls
Several toll critics say the public doesn’t want tolls, on trucks or cars. A Hartford Courant/Sacred Heart University poll released in January found a slim majority of Connecticut voters oppose tolls, even if they only apply to tractortrailer trucks.
“An overwhelming majority of constituents in my district are against imposing tolls on any vehicles on our highways, including commercial trucks,” said Rep. Harry Arora, a Republican from Greenwich. “We would like the administration to stop wasting time and energy on these tolling proposals and instead focus on key strategic changes in our transportation program.”
Tolls are essentially a user fee
Some people who voiced support for tolls said they view the levy as a user fee that would be born by the trucking industry.
“I am pro tolls because I believe currently we don’t pay the full cost of driving,” said Matt Tyksinski, an urban planner from Hartford. “If we want to improve the roads, the money needs to come from somewhere. Tolls provide a good way to do that.”
Courant staff writer Christopher Keating contributed to this report. Daniela Altimari can be reached at dnaltimari@courant.com.