It has been a very busy week in Hartford. Here are some of the highlights!
Report by Paula Antolini
October 15, 2015 9:12PM EDT
Sen. Toni Boucher: Honk Honk, Cha-Ching & Crickets
Oct 15, 2015 Message from Sen. Toni Boucher:
It has been a very busy week in Hartford. Here are some of the highlights!
There is a smarter plan to pay for better roads and rails. Please read my OpEd:
State Sen. Toni Boucher:
A smarter plan to pay for better roads and rails
We all agree that roads, rails, ports and bridges need to be fixed and upgraded in Connecticut. We also agree transportation fees must be only used for transportation needs, not raided on a continuous basis. These are things both parties agree on.
But we also must be realistic. Not only has state spending on expensive overhead reached its limit, but also taxpayers in Connecticut have been taxed to the hilt. The end result: Jobs and people are leaving the state, reducing income tax revenues and leaving pensions dangerously underfunded.
So why does the administration think his $100 billion, 30-year plan is the best plan? Let’s look at the facts.
The Governor’s Plan
There would need to be another significant tax increase to raise enough money to fund Governor Malloy’s $100 billion plan. (An idea I do not support.)
The Office of Policy and Management’s potential sources of revenue include:
Increase in sales tax (this is a regressive tax)
Increase in gas tax (declining consumption because of fuel-efficient cars)
Increase in petroleum gross receipts tax (this tax is very volatile)
Increase in bus and rail fares (hurts the working poor)
All of these taxes would adversely impact everyone in Connecticut. The increase in taxes will be needed by Fiscal Year 2020 and by then the price tag will have risen.
Only four other places have had a $100 billion transportation initiative:
The country of Colombia
The country of Mexico
The province of Ontario
The state of California, for high-speed train north to south
(All of these far exceed the state of Connecticut in size and population.)
And then there is the proposal to bring back tolls. (An idea I strongly oppose.) The Federal Highway Association will not permit border tolls in our state. The only tolling options available to Connecticut — without changes to federal law — would not bring in nearly enough money to fund the plan.
Most states toll at a rate of 5-cents per mile, a report commissioned by the governor’s Transportation Panel (the CDM Smith report) looked at 10-cents and even 20-cents per mile to see the cost benefit analysis. This includes:
A 4th lane on I-95 and tolling all four lanes at 10-cents a mile, the net over 25 years would be $7 billion. At 20-cents the net revenue would only be $11.2 billion over 25 years.
With a $1 toll, the net revenue from tolling the Hartford Viaduct Project would be $1.1 billion.
1-95 congestion pricing would only raise net revenue over 25 years of $598 million.
Tolling the 1-91 and 1-84 High Occupancy Vehicle lanes would only raise net revenue over 25 years of $10 million.
At these prices people in Connecticut will get off the highway and congest local roads. People traveling from outside the state will bypass Connecticut whenever possible.
Malloy’s plan also includes projects that are not realistic or high priority. For example, do we need another tunnel through West Rock on Rt. 15 heading into New Haven, or a new bridge connecting Middletown to Portland? There is no prioritization!
Yes, there is a smarter better plan!
The Prioritize Progress Plan
The Prioritize Progress Plan, developed by Republicans, does not cost taxpayers one cent more in taxes and does not include tolls.
What it does do is prioritize the state’s credit card spending; $15.8 billion in General Obligation (GO) bonds will have a high priority status focused on transportation initiatives over a 30-year span. This amount will be added to $600 million in annual Special Transportation Obligation (STO) bonds, for a grand total of $37.4 billion for transportation over the next three decades.
Other necessary bonding programs will continue such as:
local school construction
clean water grants
housing initiatives
The Republican plan will actually result in less overall bonding by the state thereby reducing debt service expenditures and unnecessary interest costs in the future — reducing the burden on your children.
The Republican plan also re-establishes the Transportation Strategy Board to work with Department of Transportation to assess projects and identify community needs so only necessary projects are done — not wish list projects.
There is a smarter, better plan if we want to build a future in our state.
*****
Our pension system needs an overhaul. Please read my recent letter published in the Wall St Journal: 
Connecticut’s fiscal woes provide a teachable moment for cities and states across the country. The Constitution State’s budget now directs more than three times the amount that other states typically pay to fund government pensions. Those payments will continue to rise, taking crucial funding away from services for the vulnerable, roads, bridges and schools while forcing taxes ever higher. Those who wish to avoid the “Connecticut crunch” would do well to reform their pension systems immediately.
State Sen. Toni Boucher
Wilton, Conn.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/pensions-and-learning-from-past-mistakes-1444678397
*****
Following calls by hospitals, advocates for the 
disabled, and many others for legislative action to address Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s recent devastating budget cuts, greater Danbury Republican legislators have all signed a petition seeking a special session of the General Assembly to rebuild the state budget. Take a moment to learn why this is so important to the future of our state.
http://ctsenaterepublicans.com/2015/10/greater-danbury-republicans-call-for-special-session-to-fix-failing-state-budget-2/#.Vh_CfYKFPq4
*****
State Sen. Toni Boucher is a Republican who represents the 26th District.
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