Opinion: No To Charging Tomorrow’s Taxpayers for Today's Repairs

The following op-ed was written by Connecticut state Sen. Will Haskell (D-26th):

Hartford has a habit that I’d like to break. Last month, as Governor Lamont delivered his budget
address to the General Assembly, I remember the sinking feeling that came when I learned that
13 percent of Connecticut’s budget will be consumed by debt services. As a new lawmaker, I
can’t help but feel saddled by the debts of our parents’ and grandparents’ generations. For years,
lawmakers have kicked the can down the road, burdening future voters, taxpayers and lawmakers
with a legacy of debt.

Consider the issue of public pensions. While lawmakers made generous promises, they regularly
failed to set aside the annual required contribution to make future payments. Every day, I hear
my Republican and Democratic colleagues condemn the fact that current taxpayers, lawmakers
and voters are forced to grapple with yesterday’s credit card bills.

Unfortunately, that’s where the bi-partisanship ends. Now, some of my colleagues are
championing that same short-sighted approach.

Few can argue with a straight face that Connecticut’s infrastructure is fine as-is. The train from
my district to Manhattan is slower today than it was in 1950. We ask residents to drive over at
least 332 structurally deficient bridges scattered across the state. Connecticut drivers experience
81 million hours of delay per year while stuck in traffic, costing residents and businesses a
staggering $1.9 billion dollars per year. The million dollar (or perhaps billion dollar) question:
how should we fund the much needed improvements to our infrastructure?

I support the idea of tolling. That’s not because I like paying tolls – who does? It’s because we’re
the only state between Maine and Florida that doesn’t ask drivers to contribute to the upkeep of
our roads. While Connecticut drivers dutifully pay tolls when traveling through other states, we
give the out-of-state drivers who use our roads a free ride. New York raises $2.6 billion through
tolls annually. Massachusetts raises over $440 million. If Connecticut were to install tolls,
roughly 40 percent of the revenue would come from out-of-state drivers and trucking companies.
We’re leaving money on the table at a time when we can’t afford to do so.

The other option, euphemistically termed “Prioritize Progress,” plays the very same game of
appealing to voters today by burdening taxpayers of tomorrow. It calls for $65 billion in
infrastructure bonding over the course of 30 years. Those bonds will increase in interest by 3 to 5
percent every year, increasing the cost over time. Sound familiar?

I may be new to politics, but I understand the political expediency of promising major
transportation improvements at little or no cost to current taxpayers. But that’s exactly the sort of
thinking that got us into our current fiscal mess. As a State Senator, I’m determined to break
Hartford’s habit of legislating narrowly and exclusively for the present. Instead, let’s plan
carefully and responsibly for the future. Let’s break the cycle of short-sightedness and make
some tough but necessary decisions. Simply put, let’s give future taxpayers a chance to succeed
rather than saddling them with debt before they leave the cradle.

— By Sen. Will Haskell (D-26th), representing Bethel, New Canaan, Redding, Ridgefield, Weston, Westport and Wilton