McGorty Votes Against Potential Tolls, More Bureaucracy

HARTFORD —State Representative Ben McGorty (R-Shelton) cast two recent ‘no’ votes on bills to create new unelected bureaucracies that he believes pose a serious threat to taxpayers and their personal property.

Democrats on the Banking Committee are proposing SB-150, which would establish a Connecticut Infrastructure Authority to fund new transportation projects throughout the state. But McGorty and other Republicans on the committee objected to vague language in the bill that would allow unelected Hartford bureaucrats to begin tolling Connecticut drivers and threaten their property rights using eminent domain.

“The fact that Democrats on the committee would use an infrastructure bill as a shell to insert tolls and eminent domain into this debate is unbelievable. Every step of the process, they find a new and creative way to tax and then mislead our residents about it,” Rep. McGorty said.

Republicans introduced two oral amendments to the bill which would clarify that the authority created under the bill could not exercise eminent domain or be used to introduce highway tolls. But Democrats on the committee voted along party lines to defeat both amendments and block any changes to the bill.

The American Council of Engineering Companies testified against the bill, warning that taking more spending decisions away from the state’s elected leaders could further compromise the money in the Special Transportation Fund (STF), which is already facing structural deficits in the near future. The Lamont administration has already used existing loopholes to divert as much as $170 million from the STF towards non-transportation items, and McGorty argues that Democrats are pushing this bill as another vehicle to drive up costs for the state’s residents while leaving the Fund high and dry.

“This isn’t even isolated to the Special Transportation Fund. Democrats are hiding behind this new virtual public hearing and committee process to introduce all kinds of wild spending schemes. They’re even trying to create a state-run bank. It’s like giving a child your credit card, nothing good can come out of it,” Rep. McGorty insisted.

The Shelton lawmaker referred to another ‘no’ vote he cast in the committee against a proposal to investigate chartering a State of Connecticut Bank. The Credit Union League of Connecticut, which testified against the bill, said the issue has already been studied by the legislature and dismissed because it would put the health of the state’s financial institutions in jeopardy.

Both bills received a Joint Favorable report from the Banking Committee and can expect to eventually be raised for a vote in the House. McGorty, a longtime fiscal watchdog for his district, assures his constituents that he will be a ‘no’ vote for both bills as written.

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