McGorty Proposes Bill Preserving Transportation Fund
State Representative Ben McGorty (R-122) has introduced legislation this session of the Connecticut General Assembly which would require that all funds that the state collects for the Special Transportation Fund be used for transportation purposes only, ending the harmful practice of the governor and the legislature raiding the fund to pay for other items in the state budget.
McGorty, who was a first-responding volunteer firefighter to the tragic Mianus River Bridge collapse on June 28, 1983, said the interest of public safety in ensuring the state’s bridges and roads are properly maintained and inspected is paramount.
“With a 25-cent per gallon tax at the pump, and an 8.81 % gross receipts tax, Connecticut continues to maintain one of the highest combined gas taxes in the nation, and while that is unacceptable, the premise that high rate was always based on was that the funds generated from it went directly to the Special Transportation Fund to improve our roads and bridges,” said McGorty. “However, we know that this isn’t the case. Since 2005 $1.4 billion raised from the gross receipts tax on has been drained from the fund to pay for non-transportation related projects. The state’s transportation system has not been updated and maintained and this jeopardizes public safety as well as our economic strength. The time is now to seal the vault on this fund and make the necessary upgrades.”
McGorty noted that since 2007 the state’s bond authorizations have increased dramatically. Instead of paying for upgrades in highways, bridges, rail and busways the state has relied on borrowing to implement projects. “The net effect of this is that we are performing a far lower level up transportation upgrades than we need, and those we are doing cost us more due to borrowing to make them happen,” said McGorty.
Governor Dannel P. Malloy has advocated the creation of a “lock box” on transportation funds, and even indicated he would support a constitutional amendment preventing the fund from future raids. “I welcome the governor’s late conversion as a champion of transportation funds after he engineered a $110 million raid on the fund in the last budget,” said McGorty. “The governor and the legislature have demonstrated a lack of fiscal discipline when it comes to the Special Transportation Fund, and that’s why we need to ensure it is no longer raided for other budget items.”
McGorty’s proposed bill, HB 6351, An Act Limiting use of Funds in the Special Transportation Fund, has been referred to the Joint Committee on Transportation and will receive a public hearing on February 25th in the legislative Office Building in Hartford. This session of the Connecticut General Assembly convened on January 7th, and will conclude at midnight, Wednesday, June 3rd, 2015.