Gov. Dannel Malloy is proposing a 7-cent increase in the state gasoline tax, electronic tolling, starting in fiscal year 2023, a new $3 tax on tire purchases and the acceleration of the transfer of car sales tax by two years.
The purpose of the news conference is about options that his office said will stabilize the Special Transportation Fund, which finances the state’s entire transportation system.
Earlier this month, Malloy and James Redeker, the commissioner of the state Department of Transportation Commissioner, decided to postpone around $4.3 billion worth of transportation projects until revenue is appropriated for the Special Transportation Fund.
A statement from the governor's office said the plan he announced Wednesday would restore canceled state and municipal projects across the state and it would prevent the drastic increase in rail and bus fares and major service reductions on Metro-North, Shore Line East and CT Transit bus service.
Malloy’s news conference comes just two days after Democratic lawmakers announced a proposal to install electronic tolls on all interstate highways through Connecticut.
“The Special Transportation Fund is drying up fast,” State Rep. Chris Perone, the chief transportation financial officer for House Democrats, said in a statement. “We are looking at a scenario where we will run out of money for our transportation infrastructure. Electronic tolls are the answer.”
Tolls were eliminated in Connecticut following a crash at an Interstate 95 tollbooth in Stratford in 1983 that killed seven people.
