Rep. Tweedie, Republican Lawmakers: “Transportation Lock Box Falls Short of Securing Road Funds”

I joined my fellow caucus members in voting against a Democratic-proposed transportation “lock box” today on a near party-line vote, as it will not secure future road and bridge construction funds. It is clear that the majority party is not truly serious about dedicating Connecticut’s already limited resources to overhaul the state’s infrastructure.

We offered our own tightly constructed lock box proposal that would guarantee the money is used only for transportation projects, but it was rejected after Democrats resorted to parliamentary maneuvers to rule it out of order. Thus the majority party avoided a vote on a true lock box by coming up with a technicality issue to prevent the GOP proposal from being brought onto the floor.

This lock box proposal does not work, and that’s why I voted against it. There’s no “lock” to be seen anywhere on it; it should be called a “faux box.” We would be senseless to dump money into it – especially revenue that is potentially collected from new electronic tolls – and end up ‘surprised’ later on when it appears that a mystery hole had leaked away the majority of the funds that our hard-working taxpayers invested into it.

I realized today that the lock box – which is claimed to be ‘used for only transportation has a hidden motive: it is the first move towards enacting toll legislation this year. I have said and stand by my statement that I will not support any toll proposal unless it has a secure mechanism to ensure that transportation funds are used for nothing but transportation projects.

Many of those across the state who support tolls are not aware that they could be installed all throughout the state; not just along our borders. I would tell those individuals to seriously re-consider supporting this proposal, knowing that the average Connecticut citizen will be the one paying these tolls, not out-of-state drivers, and their payments will be going directly into an unlocked box.

The constitutional resolution for the lock box discussed today is the next step toward getting the matter before voters in 2018. The 2017 Regular Legislative Session will adjourn by midnight on Wednesday, June 7th.