Conn. state Dems indicate possible compromise with GOP on fixing transportation

With highway tolls tabled, at least for now, state Democrats are making encouraging sounds about the Republicans”™ alternative transportation plan ”“ albeit with some reservations.

Unveiled yesterday by Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, Fiscal Accountability & Sustainable Transportation Reform CT (FASTR CT) avoids tolls altogether. Instead, it uses $1.5 billion of the state”™s projected $2.9 billion budget reserves, or “rainy day fund,” to pay down pension liabilities, producing an annual savings of $130 million that would then be spent on transportation infrastructure.

Commuters board buses at the Bridgeport Transportation Center. Photo by John Miskulin, courtesy of Metro-North Railroad.

The 10-year, nearly $18 billion FASTR CT proposal would raise less than CT2030, Gov. Ned Lamont”™s 10-year, $21.3 billion plan. The latter includes 14 tolls on bridges around the state, something that Lamont”™s fellow Democratic leaders decided they could not support in the face of public protests and the 2020 elections.

Other than tolls, the two proposals share much in common, including low-cost borrowing from the federal government to help pay for improvements to Connecticut”™s roads, bridges, rail system, ports and buses.

“Growing Connecticut”™s economy is my top priority,” Lamont said in response to the Republican plan. “Every dollar we invest in our infrastructure is a dollar we invest in our future. I am not surprised Senator Fasano also recognizes the critical importance of those investments. The state”™s largest employers agree that these investments can transform Connecticut.”

However, he added, “While I appreciate Senator Fasano”™s proposal to partially fund much-needed infrastructure investments, taking money out of the rainy day fund is a risky proposition that requires serious evaluation.”

House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz, who has supported tolls, had a similar reaction. “I am still reviewing Senator Fasano”™s proposal,” he said. “However, I do have concerns about such a significant raid on the rainy day fund as the cornerstone of the funding plan.”

Senate President Pro Tem Martin Looney, who essentially told Lamont earlier this week that the Democratic caucus would not support CT2030”™s tolling aspect, indicated his preference for a bipartisan solution to the state”™s infrastructure problems.

“We appreciate Senator Fasano”™s plan and his continued work to find a bipartisan solution to Connecticut”™s transportation crisis,” Looney said. “We agree that our rainy day fund is currently at a historically high level and that the bipartisan budget passed in 2017 established policies to promote future fiscal stability.

“I look forward to coming to a bipartisan solution on transportation which accomplishes all the critical projects in the CT2030 transportation plan presented by Governor Lamont,” he said. “Connecticut succeeds best when both parties work together.”