Toll opponents tell Lamont: ‘We aren’t going away’

HARTFORD — Toll opponents gathered inside the state Capitol Thursday seeking to remind Gov. Ned Lamont and lawmakers that they oppose truckonly tolls.

Patrick Sasser, cofounder of No Tolls CT, said they were at the Capitol to remind Lamont that they are opposed to tolls, even if they’re only on trucks.

“We want to make sure that he’s aware we aren’t going away on this issue,” Sasser said.

Lamont was arriving back to Connecticut Thursday and was not expected at his state Capitol office.

Sasser’s group has been a constant presence at the state Capitol. At least one member of the group is at the state Capitol daily to greet the governor and lawmakers, who aren’t in session until February.

Sasser said truckonly tolls is just the beginning. He said no one trusts Connecticut government to keep a tolling system limited to trucks.

“With a push of a button they can then begin tolling all the cars on the road,” Sasser added.

Lamont, who campaigned on truckonly tolls, quickly abandoned that proposal last year for a tolling plan that included all vehicles. Unable to get that plan through the Democratcontrolled legislature, Lamont and Democratic lawmakers settled on a truckonly toll proposal similar to what’s been implemented in Rhode Island.

Democratic lawmakers and Lamont agreed to put forward a truckonly toll plan with some sort of bond covenant that would prevent tolling of passenger vehicles.

Legislative drafts to implement a truckonly tolling proposal are currently being circulated among legislative leaders. The plan is for the legislature to hold a special session later this month to finalize one.

The plan assumes $180 million in revenue from truckonly tolls in 12 locations, and it would require the use of another $100 million in general obligation bonds. It would also use money in the Rainy Day Fund to pay down pension debt if that account grows beyond 15% of the General

Fund.

The Democratic plan assumes leveraging federal funds at low interest rates based on the truckonly toll revenue. The plan also stretches out the repayment of the debt on those federal loans from 27 years to 35 years.

Not everyone in Connecticut is against tolls.

Angela Liptack, of Ridgefield, was at the Capitol earlier this month as part of the group supporting tolls. Thursday, she said she supports CT2030, which is what Lamont has dubbed his transportation plan, because Connecticut needs an “aggressive, forward looking vision for infrastructure.”

She said Connecticut is ranked poorly in national scorecards for fiscal stability and infrastructure and this plan to fund transportation improvements “does the right thing for both of those issues.”

When she talks to commuters, she says they tell her they want easier, safer and faster commutes. She said the proposal to fund improvements is a good way to secure funding without putting Connecticut further in debt.