Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said he doesn’t know a whole lot about “mileage taxes,” but he wants the task force created to come up with ideas to fund his 30-year, $100 billion transportation initiative to consider everything.
The idea of taxing drivers based on how much they drive is an idea that’s being piloted in Oregon and it’s one of the many funding concepts raised by the Transportation Finance Panel last week. The panel is expected to make their recommendations in a final report due to Malloy and the General Assembly in mid-October.
“I think they’re looking at every way to do it,” Malloy said Tuesday at an event in East Hartford.
He said a mileage tax wasn’t his proposal, but that’s why they have a panel to look at all the options.
Former state Rep. Cameron Staples, who chairs the transportation panel, told the panel that they “are not embracing anything particular,” but “should be open to all forms of revenue that are reasonable ways to finance part or all of the governor’s transportation plan.”
Sen. Toni Boucher, R-Wilton, couldn’t even believe a mileage tax was raised for consideration by the panel.
“This is another tax residents simply cannot afford and this is not the direction Connecticut should be headed,” Boucher, the ranking Republican on the Transportation Committee, said in a statement. “. . . I cannot understand how anyone can think this is a good idea.”
Most of last week’s meeting involved a discussion about reinstating tolls on Connecticut’s highways. A bill to allow electronic tolls to be placed on Connecticut’s highways failed to get called for a vote on the floor of the House and lawmakers are divided about whether it’s a good idea.
Transportation Committee co-Chairman Antonio Guerrera, D-Rocky Hill, has argued that with more cars getting 50 miles per gallon, gas tax revenue will decline and the state will need to find another way to fund its transportation improvements. One of those ways is tolls.
Patrick Jones, executive director of the International Bridge Tunnel and Turnpike Association, told the panel that tolling has come a long way in 30 years.
“Tolling is a viable, proven, and increasingly popular tool to fund major transportation infrastructure,” Jones said.
He said there are nearly 6,000 miles of tolled highways in the country that collect more than $13 billion in tolls annually.
A 2013 Quinnipiac University poll found that 58 percent of Connecticut residents oppose tolls. However, that same poll found 57 percent of voters support tolls if the money raised is used to repair the state’s roads and bridges.
Jones explained that electronic tolling could be mounted above the highway system and installed without plazas. The money would be collected by transponders that drivers would have in their windshields.
A photograph of the license plate of a driver without a transponder could be mailed to their residence with a bill to be paid at a later date. Jones said tolling agencies usually decide how many times a vehicle can pass through without paying before they look to enforce the toll.
Oz Griebel, president and CEO of the MetroHartford Alliance and a member of the panel, asked about how many vehicles try to avoid toll by getting off the highway and taking a side street.
Jones said over time most people understand avoiding the toll isn’t saving them time on the commute.
“I wouldn’t be too concerned about that,” Jones said.
As far as privacy is concerned, Jones said every toll agency has their own requirements. There are 120 toll agencies in 35 states, but most require law enforcement to get a court order for the information.
The panel made no decisions last week about whether it would recommend tolling or a mileage tax or something else. The panel is expected to meet again in September.
Support authentic, locally owned and operated public service journalism!
Malloy said Tuesday that he doesn’t expect a special session on transportation until the fall.
“I think August is a nice time for us to iron out some things,” Malloy added.
He said he’s still committed to a constitutional lockbox for transportation funding, even though there’s debate with Democratic legislative leaders over whether that should include the half percent of the sales tax now going to fund transportation.
More State Budget news

Stefanowski Talks Abortion, Employee Raises & Budget In First Press Conference
For a half-hour Wednesday, Bob Stefanowski stood outside the state Capitol and fielded questions on abortion rights and state employee raises in a sign the Republican candidate plans to run a more conventional campaign in this year’s rematch with Gov. Ned Lamont.
Keep reading
Lamont Signs The Budget
Alongside Democratic legislative leaders, Gov. Ned Lamont signed the $24 billion budget adjustment Monday that includes $600 million in tax relief. That’s more than they anticipated they would be able to offer Connecticut residents this Election year because revenue came in higher than expected, but it still creates about an $800 million deficit in 2024. …
Keep reading
ANALYSIS | It’s A Wrap: The Winners and Losers of the 2022 Session
It was a short legislative session, but the House and the Senate were able to move a lot of business this year, including the passage of a $24-billion budget with around $600 million in tax cuts.
Keep reading
Connecticut Acts To Help Its Lead-Poisoned Children
After decades of inertia, Connecticut is finally moving to help its thousands of lead-poisoned children and prevent thousands of other young children from being damaged by the widespread neurotoxin.
Keep reading
Bill Bolstering Contracting Oversight Board In Jeopardy After Lamont Administration Raises Concerns
It passed unanimously in the Senate, but a bill that would give the State Contracting Standards Board greater oversight over state contracting appeared stalled in the House Wednesday on the last day of session. “The governor and I have not talked about the bill,” House Speaker Matt Ritter said. “The commissioners have sent us a…
Keep reading
Senate Approves Tax Cuts, Sends $24B Budget to the Governor
The state Senate gave final approval late Tuesday to a $24 billion election year budget plan that includes around $600 million in tax relief while enabling the state to make an $3.5 billion payment on its unfunded pension debt. Senators voted 24-12 at around 10:30 p.m. to send the midterm budget adjustment to the desk…
Keep reading
House Green-Lights $24B Budget
On a party-line vote early Tuesday, the House passed a $24 billion budget adjustment package containing more than $600 million in tax cuts which Democrats heralded as “historic” and Republicans derided as temporary. Lawmakers voted 95 – 52 at around 12:20 a.m. to send the 673-page budget document to the Senate for consideration before the…
Keep reading
Budget Materials
The General Assembly is preparing to debate adjustments to the $24 billion state budget. Below are a few of the documents we’ve been provided as back-up materials. The budget, HB 5506. Town runs. Car tax impact on municipalities. Finance Committee Power Point.
Keep reading
Lawmakers May Vote for First Pay Increase in 20 Years
With legislative retirements mounting, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle were considering Monday raising the salaries of General Assembly members for the first time in more than two decades and indexing their pay in the future. During a morning press briefing, House Speaker Matt Ritter told reporters that funding for pay raises had been…
Keep reading
Amid Surging Revenue, House Prepares to Vote on Budget Adjustments
Connecticut’s House of Representatives was expected to vote Monday on a $24 billion budget adjustment package, buoyed by revised revenue predictions that exceeded expectations by more than $350 million. The revised consensus figures released Monday confirm the surge in revenues that enabled Gov. Ned Lamont and legislative Democrats to reach an agreement last week on…
Keep reading
Dems Detail Budget Deal With $500 Mil in Tax Cuts, Extension of Gas Tax Holiday
Legislative Democrats and Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration announced Wednesday the details of a $24.2 billion budget adjustment package, which they say provides around $500 million in tax relief including extending a gas tax holiday until December. Lamont and legislative leaders outlined the agreement during an afternoon press conference in the state Capitol building. Both chambers…
Keep reading
Health Care Workers Call for New Hires
After a record number of health care workers are expected to retire this year, health care staff called on Gov. Ned Lamont to commit to filling 1,000 vacant positions by August 1 of this year. A record 1,137 state workers who notified the state that they will retire this year comes at a moment of…
Keep reading
Senate Joins House And Votes To Give Raises, Bonuses To State Employees
The Senate gave final approval by a 22-13 vote on a plan to give unionized state workers a set of raises and bonuses. The plan, negotiated by Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration and a coalition of public sector labor unions, provides three years of 2.5% raises and step increases as well as a total of $3,500…
Keep reading
House Advances Labor Deal In Historic Vote
Lawmakers in Connecticut’s House of Representatives signed off on a plan to give state workers a set of raises and bonuses Thursday in a mostly partisan vote on a negotiated labor agreement. The House voted 96 to 52 in support of the deal with 1 Republican, Rep. Tom Delnicki of South Windsor, joining all Democrats…
Keep reading
Republicans Propose Last-Minute Tax Package
Legislative Republicans pitched a $1.2 billion tax relief plan Thursday which reduces state income, sales and gas taxes and proposes to join other states in suing the federal government to challenge restrictions on spending pandemic relief funds. House and Senate Republicans announced the plan during a state Capitol press conference Thursday morning. It cuts the…
Keep reading
The Budget Battle Begins To Take Shape
Tax collections have improved and pushed Connecticut’s budget surplus to $4 billion, but the state budget still relies heavily on federal funding and without it the state would end up running a “sizeable operating deficit.” The Office of Policy and Management told state Comptroller Natalie Braswell Wednesday that if not for the use of the…
Keep reading