A proposed two-step process that could lead to tolls on Connecticut highways was approved by the Transportation Committee in the Connecticut General Assembly.
The bill that passed committee, if approved by the entire General Assembly and signed into law, would authorize the Connecticut Department of Transportation, to come up with the structure and costs associated with tolling. That study would then need to be approved next year, or if the legislature didn’t act, then the study would be authorized, essentially approving tolls in Connecticut.
“I think this is a pivoting point right now,” said Rep. Tony Guerrera, who chairs the Transportation Committee and has been the loudest supporter of tolls in the General Assembly. “I think if it comes out of the committee obviously we’ll get a vote in the House and a vote in the Senate.”
Opponents have been vocal, too. They liken tolls to another tax on Connecticut residents.
“What we would be doing is layering on an already overtaxed state that’s driving people and jobs out,” said Sen. Toni Boucher, who serves as the Senate Co-Chair of the Transportation Committee.
Gov. Dannel Malloy has endorsed tolls as a way to raise revenue for the state’s Special Transportation Fund which his administration projects will run out of money within the next few years.
