Rep. Hall, Republicans Bring Tolls Proposal to Screeching Halt

HARTFORD – State Representative Carol Hall (R-59) today stood in opposition to a proposal before the House that would have taken Connecticut another step towards implementing electronic tolls.

The proposal, offered as a strike-all amendment by the legislature’s Transportation Committee, would have requested the Commissioner of Transportation to prepare a state-wide plan to implement electronic tolling systems on the highways of this state. 

“For months, we have been discussing implementing electronic tolls across the state with our constituents,” said Rep. Hall.  “Today we stood our ground to ensure that the taxpayers of Connecticut are protected.  Connecticut does not have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem.  My constituents are exhausted with the taxes we already have and, let’s not be fooled, tolls are a yet another tax.  The studies done on tolls say that 70% of the revenue from these tolls will be paid by Connecticut residents. Until we seriously reconsider how we spend taxpayers’ dollars, we cannot impose yet another tax upon the residents of Connecticut.”

The requested plan would seek to identify the highways, or the portions thereof, where such electronic tolling systems may be located and the toll amounts that may be charged, including the use of dynamic pricing and discounts, if any.  The resulting plan would then come back before the legislature for another vote of whether to accept the recommendations and implementation of the plan.

After a heated debate, leadership in the House elected to table to amendment and the underlying bill – noting that the proposal would not have enough votes to pass.  The Speaker of the House can bring the bill back before the Chamber at any point between now and midnight tomorrow night.