Connecticut Lawmakers Look To Fund Malloy's Transportation Overhaul
HARTFORD, Conn. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Connecticut lawmakers on Monday are tackling how to pay for Gov. Dannel Malloy's 30-year, $100-billion effort to overhaul transportation in the state.
Rep. Gail Lavielle, R-Wilton, a member of the Transportation Committee, said paying for the overhaul will require lawmakers to change their priorities. She believes one way to kick it off is for lawmakers to shut the door on funding pet projects in their districts.
"The House and Senate Republicans put forward a plan that showed that if you eliminated a number of those pet projects -- several hundred million (dollars) every year -- you could create a steady stream of transportation bonding," Lavielle told WCBS 880 Connecticut Bureau Chief Fran Schneidau.
Connecticut Lawmakers Look To Fund Malloy's Transportation Overhaul
That would create about $1 billion a year -- a good start, Lavielle said.
The only proposal on the table now is border tolls, which she said, "I believe are completely infeasible, and apparently so does the governor's budget director because he told me so last week."
Lavielle added that highway tolls won't raise enough money long-term.
Malloy's budget includes funding for a five-year "ramp-up" of engineering and design work for some key highway projects, including Hartford's Interstate 84 viaduct and the Waterbury mix-master. However, the governor is leaving it up to the Democrat-controlled Legislature to come up with a funding mechanism by 2018.
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