Lamont has proposed 14 overhead toll gantries on eight highways as a way to pay for a portion of his 10-year plan. House Democrats and Senate Republicans have released their own plans, with House Democrats proposing tolls only on tractor-trailer trucks at a dozen locations across the state and Senate Republicans calling for using money from the state’s rainy day fund in lieu of tolls.
"My job is to get people to ‘yes,’ '' Lamont told reporters Wednesday after touring a manufacturing trade show in Hartford. “My job is to reach a solution. I’m encouraged in this sense: All the different groups know we have to increase our investment in transportation. ... I think we are going to find some common ground.”
Democrats say since Lamont campaigned on a trucks-only tolling plan in 2018 and won the election that shows there is public support for their plan.
A key piece in any compromise is whether Lamont would support the Senate Republicans’ idea of using money from the rainy day fund for transportation projects. Lamont declined Wednesday to say whether he would support using those funds.
“I don’t want to negotiate with myself,” Lamont said, adding that using too much of the fund "is financially very risky.”
The fund currently contains $2.5 billion and is expected to increase if current revenue trends continue. Lamont and others have been concerned that the fund will be needed in a financial emergency when the next recession hits.
The fund has been building for years and has grown most recently due to record-setting increases in the stock market on Wall Street.
The current $2.5 billion in the fund is the largest in state history and represents 12.9% of annual state spending, according to the legislature’s nonpartisan fiscal office. The fund is expected to keep increasing until it hits a statutory limit of 15% in the next fiscal year. After the 15% threshold is reached, any additional money would be directed to reduce the unfunded liability for pensions for state employees and public school teachers.
Republicans want to use $1.5 billion from the fund, but other lawmakers say a smaller amount might be approved in an overall compromise.
While Lamont has been talking about tolls and transportation since before he was elected, it took the Senate Republicans and House Democrats almost until Thanksgiving to unveil their proposals. Under all three plans, low-interest federal loans would be another key piece of financing, along with state borrowing and federal grants.
House Republicans have said their own transportation plan is forthcoming. The Senate Democrats have not yet released a plan.
“The legislature has spent the last 30 years avoiding making a decision on how we get this economy growing again and how we fix transportation,” Lamont said. "So, was I shocked that they wanted to put it off a little bit longer? No. But more importantly, we’re all getting to the table. We have several solutions. I think there’s an opportunity perhaps to put it together in a deal that works.''
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