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Exclusive: State Democrats Strain to Create Persuasive Talking Points for Lamont Transportation Plan. Fail to Address Broken Campaign Promises, Looting Motor Vehicle Sales Tax.

by Kevin Rennie

The Connecticut Democratic Party organization released talking points to jittery allies to assist in making the case for the latest version of Governor Ned Lamont’s transportation plan. Many Democrats will strain to explain the disproportionate benefit going to wealthy Lower Fairfield County as others pay tolls and the gas tax but see few comparable benefits.

The talking points fail to explain why Lamont abandoned the tolls for trucks-only pledge that allowed him to win his 2018 race for governor. They also don’t address why Lamont’s budget took more than $1 billion intended for the Special Transportation Fund and put it in the state’s general fund if a transportation crisis was upon us.

Here are the talking points:


CT2030 – Transportation Plan

Quality of Life Improvements 

  • CT2030 is a series of transportation projects that will improve the lives of Connecticut residents. Rebuilt bridges, exits, intersections, and historic improvements in Metro North will take time off commutes, giving more time for Connecticut residents to be at home with loved ones rather than sitting in traffic.
  • With the completion of some projects, the state could take as many as 20 minutes off commutes every day, close to two hours a week that commuters won’t spend in their car or on a delayed train.

High level points

  • Historic investment in the state’s infrastructure sends a message to the region and the country that the state is forward-thinking and open for business.
  • Unprecedented $5 billion commitment to modernize Metro North, the most important commuter rail in the United States.
  • Nonstop service from Waterbury to New York City. 
  • Connects cities and towns in Lower Fairfield County to New York City like never before, leading to increased property values and more attractive development and expansion opportunities. Makes places like Stamford, Bridgeport and Norwalk specifically part of the New York ecosystem.
  • Biggest investment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and take cars off the road in the state’s history. Increased capacity on Metro North combined with targeted highway improvements means the state is making one of the biggest and most public commitments to the environment through transportation investment in the country.
  • Shores up the Special Transportation Fund beyond 2030, providing a reliable revenue stream and reducing the amount the state finances and borrows to pay for transportation infrastructure.
  • Protects the state’s annual $750 million in federal grants by getting the state’s transportation infrastructure to a state of good repair through the plans laid out in CT2030.

Economic Output

  • The 77 enhancements and dozens of other will keep the construction and engineering industries busy for years. That economic activity will help drive Connecticut’s economy.
  • By improving all segments of the state’s infrastructure, it provides predictability and reliability for employers. More people will be able to get to work more efficiently, reducing wasted times on congested commutes.
  • Improved infrastructure will lead to better opportunities for affordable housing and Transit Oriented Development.

Why user fees?

  • User fees include payments from out of state vehicles.
  • User fees allow specific projects to have direct funds to pay for completion. The revenue allows other funds to be spent on other projects. 
  • User fees provide a new revenue source which could be used to qualify for BAB TIFIA loans, providing a significantly less expensive option to taxpayers. Using GO authority is essentially borrowing to borrow.
  • User fees allow for cashflow to pay for projects, which would the projects to be done more quickly. 
  • Gov. Lamont wants to avoid using the state’s credit card in an irresponsible way. This method guarantees the super-low interest loans will be paid back, keeping the state’s debt at lower levels than through traditional transportation funding means.

What are the discounts for CT residents?

  • 20 percent discount for all CT vehicles.
  • This is the least expensive and skinniest possible user fee program.
  • Goal was to provide the steepest discount to the most residents.

What are the prices?

  • .50 – $1.00 for non-CT drivers
  • .40-.80 for CT EZ-Pass Holders
  • $3.50-$7.00 for Heavy Trucks

What happened to the income tax break for low income residents?

  • Under this proposal the user fee rates are the lowest possible rates while maintaining a responsible borrowing and financing level.

Can’t we just do all of this work without user fees?

  • Not in any responsible way.
  • The Wall Street Journal just editorialized about Connecticut saying that state is finally getting out of a fiscal hole that had been dug for years, in part because we are no longer digging the hole.
  •  
  • Bo to pay for CT2030, you are digging the hole deeper and deeper. The user fees act as the payback mechanism which is responsible and dedicated.
  • By utilizing the TIFIA and RRIF loan programs, these allow for the cheaper financing with the support of user fees. If you were to eliminate the user fee element of the financing, then the low-cost federal financing is no longer an option, changing the financing of the entire plan.
  • If Republicans or Tea Partiers have another idea on how to qualify for the federal financing with a different stream of revenue, the administration is all ears.

What will stop the government from just stealing this federal money to pay for other stuff? $171 million was stolen from the STF to cover other expenses. Why is this any different?

  • This is different for multiple reasons. The loans are secured by the federal government and the Trump Administration requiresan acceptable and approved payback mechanism. If the state changes that, sweeps funds, moves money around, that can put in jeopardy other federal transportation grants and funds the state qualifies for. It would be reckless and irresponsible for the legislature or governor to even consider such a concept. The Trump Administration is very clear on what Connecticut can and cannot spend Build America Bureau funding on. 
  • The state has never had an achievable vision like this before. This isn’t 50 years, 30 years, or 20 years. It’s 10 years and it’s spelled out how to pay for it. No administration has ever done this before in Connecticut’s history.

A few months ago, Gov. Lamont was talking about the dire funding situation of the State Transportation Fund (STF). Does this address that? What’s changed?

  • Nothing has changed. This is a different and innovative way to solve the state’s funding crisis. 

Why theses projects?

  • These are projects that are already in the CTDOT pipeline. In some cases, most of the engineering and environmental work has been completed. These projects will yield immediate results for Connecticut residents.
  • In other instances, projects are the initial work on larger projects with long-term goals. 
    • For instance, one priority rail project is replacement of aging bridges on Metro North, with the next project to improve the track itself. 
    • Another example is rebuilding the service road along I-84 in Danbury. That project, once completed, allows for improvements to the exit structure in Danbury on I-84.
  • In the case of the SOGR projects, they have been identified as necessary to ensure the state receives its proper share of federal grants. A reduction or lack of commitment here could jeopardize the $750 million the state receives from Washington.

Is there room for compromise with CT2030?

  • This proposal is a compromise after listening to the concerns expressed and negotiating with key stakeholders.
  • The only plan to fix Connecticut’s roads was produced by the Lamont Administration. This plan is the result of months of discussions across the aisle both in Hartford and in Washington.

Why does this have to happen now? Can’t we wait until next year or 2021?

  • The time to act is right now. The budget is balanced and stable for the first time in years.
  • Credit and ratings agencies are giving Connecticut positive outlooks and commending the state on its efforts to stabilize it finances.
  • The state has to keep momentum going and have a plan in place for the next decade that keeps the state moving in the right direction.

Isn’t this just the GOP Prioritize Progress Plan with tolls?

  • This is a responsible financing and borrowing plan that relies on modest user fees to pay those loans back. 
  • Prioritize Progress essentially squeezed out any other bonding without a stream of revenue to pay for it. This abides by Gov. Lamont’s debt diet, while also providing reliable revenue.

Why pass it now?

  • If Connecticut doesn’t address the funding crisis with the STF now, it will only get worse over the next year, making the solutions far more politically tenuous.
  • Raises the spectre of a wide-scale sales tax or gas tax increase, or an even larger scale toll program than was proposed during the 2019 legislative session.