Fasano Corrects Misstatements Made by House Democrats on Republican Transportation Funding Proposals

HARTFORD – Senate Republican President Pro Tempore Len Fasano (R-North Haven) released the following statement in response to grossly inaccurate and purposefully untruthful statements made by House Democrat leaders at a press conference this morning regarding Republican proposals to mitigate the shortfall in the state’s Special Transportation Fund and boost transportation infrastructure funding over the long term without taxes or tolls.

“It is unfortunate that House Democrat leaders don’t know how to read a budget. Their comments today about Republican solutions to the state’s transportation funding issues show that either they have still not read our proposals, or they are purposefully trying to mislead the public with statements that are completely false. Therefore, I have to correct the record.

“First of all, the Republican budget released yesterday solves the deficit in the Special Transportation Fund without any bonding whatsoever. It is solved by appropriating funds in the state budget to the STF, just as the fund has always been supported since it was created. Prioritize Progress, the Republican long-term funding plan for transportation, is an entirely separate proposal to provide transportation infrastructure dollars over the long term. It works within the state’s new bond cap so the state is never bonding more than we can afford – unlike the out of control borrowing we’ve seen Democrats engage in under the current administration. In addition, it does not threaten school construction funding, a falsehood House Democrats continue to repeat. In fact it specifically spells out protecting that bonding obligation, along with other necessities (see chart on page 5 of the proposal http://ctsenrepublic.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/2018Spring_PrioritizeProgress.pdf). What it does reduce is bonding for pet projects and political handouts and forces the state to prioritize funding to transportation, leverage federal dollars and uphold our commitment to fix transit needs without adding any new burdens onto future generations.

“The Speaker’s refusal to seriously consider any other funding proposal for transportation that is not tolls or tax increases has set Connecticut back. His leadership has focused on false representations of promising tolls to solve our infrastructure problems when he didn’t even have the votes to pass it. If he had considered our solutions over three years ago we would have booming infrastructure development today and over $1 billion annually in state and federal funding using existing resources. Instead he has ignored multiple solutions put on the table, allowing the transit system to continue deteriorating, and he still doesn’t have a solution today.”