Special session on tolls canceled
State officials said Thursday that plans have been canceled for a special session next week to vote on truck-only tolls — Gov. Ned Lamont’s most high-profile priority. A vote could be held, however, after the regular session begins Wednesday. Despite the cancellation of the special session, officials said a public hearing on tolls will be held Friday at the state Capitol complex.
HARTFORD – In a surprise, state officials said Thursday that plans have been canceled for a special session next week to vote on truck-only tolls — Gov. Ned Lamont’s most high-profile priority.
A vote could be held, however, after the regular legislative session begins on Wednesday.
Despite the cancellation of the special session, officials said a public hearing on tolls will be held as scheduled Friday at the state Capitol complex.
Lamont’s chief spokesman, Max Reiss, predicted that the trucks-only proposal will be approved in the future.
“Senate Democratic leaders have confirmed they have the 18 votes needed to move our state’s economy forward, reduce the state’s carbon footprint and finally make a long overdue investment in transportation,” Reiss said. “Additionally, House Democratic leaders confirmed they, too, have the votes to improve the state’s infrastructure.
“Democratic legislators have presented the only responsible bill to impose tolls on trucks-only, combined with historically low federal financing — which we support and look forward to its eventual passage. The alternatives are unacceptable: doing nothing, or raising taxes on the middle class and dipping into our state’s budget reserves, two things Republicans support.”
The latest toll plan would raise between $150 million and $175 million a year, helping to fund a 10-year, $19.4 billion overhaul of Connecticut’s transportation infrastructure.
Legislators have been clashing over highway tolls since Lamont took office last year, with various proposals that have had different numbers of gantries. The latest plan calls for charging only large trucks on 12 bridges on six highways from Groton to Greenwich. Previous plans for tolls on the Merritt Parkway in Norwalk and Route 9 in Middletown have been dropped.
In the most recent clash, lawmakers have been battling over whether the wording of the 38-page bill would allow tolls to be charged to cars in the future. Toll opponents say a loophole in the legislation could open the door to car tolls in the future, but both Lamont and Senate President Pro Tem Martin Looney said that is not the intent of the bill.
Rep. Roland Lemar, a New Haven Democrat who co-chairs the legislature’s transportation committee, said officials from Rhode Island will be traveling Friday to Connecticut to explain their current program of truck-only tolls. Rhode Island officials said recently that the money they have collected from tolls has been less than expected, but they attributed the reason to the slow construction of toll gantries.
Only six of Rhode Island’s 12 gantries have been constructed. Following those reports, Lamont pledged that all 12 gantries in Connecticut will be built simultaneously.
House Majority Leader Matt Ritter of Hartford and other lawmakers have said that it is difficult to get a high rate of attendance at the Capitol for a special session. Lawmakers plan their
calendars and vacations far in advance, and they have set aside time for the regular session that extends Feb. 5 to May 6.
Legislators had said that votes could be held in the state House of Representatives and Senate on Monday and Tuesday, but concerns about attendance were raised again Thursday as some lawmakers were unsure whether enough lawmakers would be present to guarantee the support that Democrats say they have.
“The old adage in Hartford is when you have the votes, you vote,’’ said
House Republican leader Themis Klarides of Derby. “They don’t have the votes. Clearly, this last-minute declaration indicates a lack of leadership going forward. The directive to members to keep open future dates shows a lack of support within their caucus to move this legislation forward. We, as Republicans, are prepared to debate this issue for as long as it takes to satisfy taxpayers and residents of the state of Connecticut that this issue has been fully vetted to their satisfaction.”