Posted on 01/22/2018 11:11:06 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Southington — Oz Griebel, a petitioning candidate for governor who once led the state Transportation Strategy Board, told an audience of construction executives and union members Friday that Connecticut must embrace electronic tolling and higher gasoline taxes to preserve and improve its transportation infrastructure.
At a transportation forum for Democratic and unaffiliated candidates, Griebel offered the broadest prescription for how to stabilize and grow a special transportation fund now projected to hit insolvency by 2022, leaving the state unable to borrow money to address a growing backlog of transportation needs.
Many of the Democrats, unlike the Republican field at a similar event a month ago, agreed on the need for the revenue that tolling would bring, while they largely dodged the issue of higher gasoline taxes. Both forums were sponsored by the Connecticut Construction Industries Association.
Malloy, who is expected to share his own transportation funding proposals by month’s end, warned last week that hundreds of capital projects worth $4.3 billion would have to be suspended over the next five years without a rapid infusion of new revenue.
“I think today is a strong indication that the governor’s message of a week ago is starting to sink in,” said Don Shubert, the president of the association.
But Lyle Wray, the executive director of the Capitol Region Council of Governments, said he was frustrated after the two forums that so few candidates in the field of more than two dozen gubernatorial hopefuls seem to grasp the depth of Connecticut’s transportation needs and their impact on the economy.
“It’s frightening,” he said.
The list of 20 cities Amazon identified Thursday as remaining candidates from an initial field of 238 for a second headquarters to house 50,000 employees was dominated by communities that long ago established stable revenue sources to finance improvements to mass transit.
“They’re doing big stuff, and here we sit,” Wray said.
Political support has been weak for two of the Malloy administration’s mass transit initiatives, a bus rapid transit line from New Britain to Hartford that has exceeded passenger projections, and commuter rail service set to open late this year from Springfield through Hartford to New Haven.
Griebel, who was chairman of the Transportation Strategy Board from its inception in 2000 until mid-2005, noted that the board made numerous recommendations, including tolling, gas taxes and a temporary transportation surcharge on the sales tax.
“None of this has been done,” Griebel said.
Ned Lamont, a Democrat who entered the race Wednesday, told the audience of more than 300 that electronic tolls are necessary begin transportation improvements vital to the state’s economic growth.
“I’m going to make it a priority from day one,” Lamont said, drawing applause from union members, business owners and others whose livelihoods depend on infrastructure spending.
Sean Connolly, the former veterans affairs commissioner, and a retired corporate executive, Guy L. Smith IV, also endorsed tolls, even if Smith colorfully observed, “Tolls piss people off.”
Smith proposed a special debit card motorists would use to pay tolls and buy gasoline, easing the way for Connecticut residents to get a transportation credit on their taxes. Connolly said tolls were necessary to capture revenue from out-of-state residents who use Connecticut’s highways.
“You and I are currently subsidizing others driving through our state,” Connolly said. “We are paying. They are not.”
Bridgeport Mayor Joseph P. Ganim speculated that Amazon’s refusal to short-list Connecticut for its new headquarters was at least partially due to transportation. But he said nothing about what revenue sources he would favor to address a transportation crisis that will be felt long before the transportation fund’s projected insolvency in 2022.
The two forums were open to any declared candidate for governor, including those who have demonstrated no ability to raise money, assemble an organization or otherwise credibly compete in the race to succeed Malloy. Joining Griebel, Lamont, Connolly and Smith were Lee Whitnum, Jacey Wyatt, Mark Stewart and Micah Welintukonis.
Stewart, who began his campaign as a Libertarian and then declared a month later as a Democrat, said progressives have ruined Connecticut, then shifted to his other campaign — organizing support to try to bring back Hartford’s lost NHL franchise, the Whalers.
“You don’t have to have a loser mentality here,” Stewart said. “We can get ‘em back, thank you.”
He left to laughter and applause.
you want high tolls ? let the gov‘t continue to run the interstates
Better that they tax the beaches so that there will be no sand left, rather than do the same to the working employed.
Vote for extortion. Pay for extortion.
>> Connolly said tolls were necessary to capture revenue from out-of-state residents who use Connecticut’s highways.
I-95 would be that route which is paid primarily by federal tax revenue. So what exactly is this bitch complaining about? Local deliveries?
Until we can actually ask the right questions and demand the correct answers whether they are politically correct or not this entire nation-wide debacle of “not enough highway money” will continue.
The answer is as obvious as an elephant standing inside the state and federal capitols.
Highway infrastructure, like power and water, is a principal lifeblood of a large country like ours. Other state and federal programs MUST BE CURTAILED until adequate money to maintain and upgrade critical infrastructure is met.
We CAN do this. We SHOULD be doing this. But the shell game of political money has become so out of control that the entire highway budget system from federal to state level is nothing but a corrupt mess used to pry money out of various agencies and an excuse to forever raise taxes for things that were already supposedly taxed to pay for a hundred times over.
There has to be some way to at least temporarily turn back the clock on the gaming of highway money or maybe just stop the abuse of funds in this one area for a few decades. The roads are falling apart. We need a Trump level shakeup of this system. An exposing of the swamp. A real audit of what needs to be done, and what it should ACTUALLY cost to get it done and how long.
The rest of this is just the noise the politicians want you to hear year after year so the game keeps going.
"...drain the swamp..."
How long until they start charging us for breathing air?
Hmmm...
Proponents of increased spending: Let’s see a graph of highway funds spent in CT, per capita, adjusted for inflation, for the last 50 years. If that starting point is “odd”, for some reason, repeat, going back 55 or 60 years.
Nobody ever found any of the asphalt in the woods?
“The Connecticut Mirror” - no need to go any further.
://www.axios.com/draft-white-house-infrastructure-plan-1516644555-0d43f417-6ccd-43f7-9eae-3ccbe711314d.html
This direct tracking and mileage tolling drive will be the end of America.
I’ll go down swinging.
One's "personal carbon footprint"?
If you're on Facebook, The Government probably has your chest measurement for air-taxing purposes already.
TOLL ROAD IS RENT
The road is finished, done built.
Maintenance is minimal.
Toll is rent. Rent drains your savings.
Toll steals your pension money and gives your retirement to a Govt union worker.
Toll is a scam.
Move away. Keep your own pension.
The gas tax was supposed to pay for the roads. A billion dollars in revenue from gas taxes. Where’s that money being spent?
Really, tolls and raising sales taxes... Connecticut, if you vote Dems, you really are brain dead. (Smith has a great idea, return the Whalers).
Connecticut has turned into a dump thanks to stupid liberals continuously voting for dems...totally corrupt.....they deserve what they vote for...I escaped 27 years ago
Connect-icut holding drivers hostage...
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