Highway tolls move forward after committee vote

Cars pass through the New England Thruway Toll Plaza on the stretch of I-95 between New Rochelle and Larchmont, N.Y. Monday, April 24, 2017. Cars pass through the New England Thruway Toll Plaza on the stretch of I-95 between New Rochelle and Larchmont, N.Y. Monday, April 24, 2017. Photo: Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media Buy photo Photo: Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Highway tolls move forward after committee vote 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A plan to place tolls on the state’s highways moved a step forward Thursday when a key legislative committee voted to send several bills to the House and Senate for debate.

The General Assembly’s Transportation Committee approved legislation to place tolls on interstates 95, 91, 84 and the Merritt Parkway. One bill requires a study and a formal proposal by the state Department of Transportation, and then a second vote by the Legislature next year, before tolls are authorized.

“We need to do something here,” said state Rep. Tony Guerrera, D-Wethersfield, a committee co-chairman and sponsor of the so-called “two-step” toll bill.

“This bill gives the opportunity for the next General Assembly to look at it and put something in place,” Guerrera said. “That’s all this bill does. We need some sustainable revenue and this is one way.”

Another bill authorizes DOT to implement tolls and set rates, while a third establishes a new Connecticut Transportation Authority to put tolls in place.

Support and opposition for tolling followed party lines, with Democrats in favor of at least moving the issue to the House and Senate while Republicans were opposed.

State Sen. Toni Boucher, R-Wilton, said tolls are just an unwanted tax.

“This is another layer of taxation,” she said, adding states with tolls don’t have as many taxes as Connecticut.

“Those states don’t have an income tax and a property tax on cars, and a tax on pensions on social security,” Boucher said. “They added tolling to augment taxes they don’t have and Connecticut does.”

Other legislators have lamented that tolls could cost commuters hundreds of dollars a month and that motorists would be tempted to find routes around tolling spots and in the process clog local roads.

A bill that sought to give the Legislature the final decision over raising Metro-North fares tied 18-18, so it did not pass the committee.

State Rep. Gail Lavielle, R-Wilton, a toll opponent, said she didn’t vote for any of the toll bills because none spelled out a specific tolling plan.

“While all four bills we voted on generally favor tolls as a concept, they contain no details,” Lavielle said. “None of them tells us how much tolls would cost to implement, how many tolls there would be, how much revenue they would bring in, or how much they would cost drivers every day.”

State Sen. Henri Martin, R-Bristol, said at least the two-step bill will eventually provide the information necessary to make a decision on tolls.

“I’ve said I would support tolls if it reduces the gas tax and this sort of does that,” Martin said, referring to a provision that reduces the tax under certain conditions.

“I’m encouraged we are looking to get the information,” Martin said. “We need the cost and how much revenue it’s going to generate. The gas tax is diminishing.”

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the Democratic majority leadership have endorsed tolls as a solution to replenishing the state’s Special Transportation Fund, which is expected to be insolvent by 2020. The looming deficit is mostly due to declining revenue from the state’s gas tax as more fuel-efficient vehicles hit the roads.

Malloy earlier this year canceled $4.3 billion in planned highway projects because the state had run out of money. Metro-North fares are set to increase and service reduced as a result of the money crunch.

Supporters say tolls — estimated to be worth upward of $800 million in revenue a year — would restore the canceled highway projects and eliminate the need to hike Metro-North fares and reduce weekend service on the branch lines.

One of the bills, submitted by Malloy, increases the gas tax by 7 cents a gallon over the next four years, and slaps a new tax on car sales and a $3 fee on new tires.

Malloy called passage of the toll bills a “positive step” toward restoring transportation funding and needed repair projects.

“Let’s be clear: Without new revenue, we will be forced to delay or cancel billions of dollars of projects in every town in Connecticut,” Malloy said. “These projects aren’t optional; they are critical to ensuring our roads, bridges, tunnels and rails remain in a state of good repair.”

Malloy said the state will be forced to increase fares and reduce services on Metro-North, Shore Line East and CTtransit.

“While our neighboring states have made significant transportation investments, Connecticut has fallen short, and it has harmed our economy,” Malloy said.

State Rep. Jonathan Stienberg, D-Westport, who voted for the various toll bills, agreed the state needs new transportation revenue.

“We are in crisis and on the brink of bad outcomes if we don’t repair roads and bridges,” Steinberg said. “In Fairfield County, we lose economic value every day because people are stuck in traffic. This is something we are going to do sooner or later. We have our heads in the sand.”