Rep. Steve Harding Speaks on Border Tolls, Lock Box, CT Transportation Issues

By Scott Benjamin

State Rep. Steve Harding (R-107) of Brookfield said he voted with “trepidation” last month in support of the proposed constitutional lock box for the Transportation Fund, an issue that his immediate predecessor had spear-headed.

Former state Rep. David Scribner (R-107) of Brookfield had been critical of money being diverted from the transportation fund to other programs. Scribner, who had served the district from 1999 until early last year when he took a position with the state Liquor Control Commission, was the ranking Republican House member on the General Assembly’s Transportation Committee.

Harding, whose district includes Brookfield, the Stony Hill section of Bethel and a tiny part of northern Danbury said in an interview that he was initially reluctant about supporting the transportation lockbox because said he didn’t think it had “enough teeth in it” to ensure that transportation money would remain there.

State Rep. Bob Godfrey (D-110) of Danbury has voiced similar concerns, saying that the most recent version was more a concept than a proposed constitutional amendment.

The initiative was supported unanimously in the state Senate 35-0 during a special session in December but passed the state House by only a 144-100 margin, which was 14 votes of the two-thirds majority needed to place it on the state ballot this November.

Gov. Dannel Malloy (D-Stamford) has said he hopes the General Assembly will again consider the lockbox, which he views as a major component in his effort to win approval for a 30-year, $100 billion transportation package. A committee chaired by former state Rep. Cameron Staples (D-New Haven) is expected to offer funding recommendations later this winter.

Connecticut has suffered from traffic congestion for decades.

Harding has said since he began running for the seat in a special election early last year that he opposed border tolls, noting, for example, that an estimated 40 percent of the shoppers at the Danbury Fair Mall are from out of state.

Former Gov. William O’Neill (D-East Hampton) removed the toll plazas 31 years ago following some horrific accidents that occurred near them.

Harding also has opposed increasing the state’s gasoline tax even though per gallon prices have dipped well below $2.50 after being in the $4 range less than two years ago.

[NOREIRC]