Scott Wartman

swartman@nky.com

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear Friday vetoed legislation that would have banned tolls on the Brent Spence Bridge and its replacement.

That could make the possibility of tolls to pay for the $2.6 billion bridge project more likely.

The toll ban authored by state Rep. Arnold Simpson, D-Covington, passed the General Assembly last month attached to a bill that would have allowed private money to pay for public projects, known as public-private partnerships or P3.

Prodded by Beshear, Simpson told the Enquirer, lawmakers might try to put legislation allowing tolls in the state road plan in the final two days of the session next week

"I've obviously aligned myself with the vast majority of people at home that concur that tolls on the Brent Spence Bridge is an abomination," said. "The game is not over. They will try to attach tolls to another bill."

Beshear, in his veto message, said it would be "imprudent" to put a ban on a single financing mechanism into state law.

"It is imprudent to eliminate any potential means of financing construction of such a vital piece of infrastructure that serves not only the Commonwealth and the state of Ohio but also the eastern United States," Beshear wrote.

The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce condemned the veto because it took away private financing for other state projects, including convention centers and highway projects.

They urged the General Assembly to override the veto in the final two days of the session on Monday and Tuesday. Lawmakers can override a veto with a majority in both the House and Senate.

Kentucky is among a handful of states where legislators need only a majority vote to override; others include Arkansas, Alabama, Indiana, and West Virginia. Most other states require a two-thirds vote.

The veto drew praise, however, from many in the Northern Kentucky business community.

Dick Knock, a developer from Boone County, said the toll ban would have killed the Brent Spence Bridge project.

"I'm not for tolls, but I don't want to rule tolls out if that's the only way to get the bridge done," Knock said.

Jim Votruba, former Northern Kentucky University president and chairman of the Northern Kentucky CEO Roundtable, also backed the veto.

"Enactment of this bill would result in a devastating delay of the Brent Spence Bridge project, which is needed to improve safety, ease gridlock and increase productivity and business activity in our region," Votruba said in a statement.

The Northern Kentucky Chamber supported the P3 bill but didn't support the toll ban, said Brent Cooper, interim president of the Northern Kentucky Chamber

"The Brent Spence Bridge continues to be a major need in our community," Cooper said. "It hasn't changed and is not going to change until we get that corridor completed."

The veto was Beshear's only option for allowing future tolls as a way to pay for a new bridge over the Ohio River between Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, a $2.6 billion replacement and renovation project.

If he signed the bill or let it become law without his signature, the toll ban would have been part of state law. A future General Assembly would have had to repeal the ban if they wanted to establish tolls as an option.

Northern Kentuckians in the final two days of the legislature on Monday and Tuesday hope to keep $37 million in the state road budget for design work on the bridge. That money was pulled by the Kentucky House when the toll ban was amended into the P3 bill.

The Associated Press contributed

Excerpts from Beshear's veto message:

"I am vetoing this bill because it encumbers an otherwise well-intentioned policy measure with unnecessary elements relating to a single, near-term project, which should not be enshrined into permanent law"

"The primary purpose of HB 407 is to create or further enhance mechanisms to facilitate public-private partnerships-or P3s-for the procurement of services, and the procurement, construction or financing of capital projects, including transportation projects."

"While House Bill 407 grants broad and necessary authority to governmental entities to utilize P3s for transportation projects generally, it expressly prohibits their use in cases involving the state of Ohio."

"It further expressly prohibits the use of tolls to fund a project to construct a replacement for the Brent Spence Bridge."

"It is imprudent to eliminate any potential means of financing construction of such a vital piece of infrastructure that serves not only the Commonwealth and State of Ohio, but also the eastern United States. Issues relating to a single project such as this should not be enshrined in permanent law."