State Senator John A. Kissel Votes Against Electronic Tolling

State Senator John A. Kissel (R-07) released the following statement after voting against several electronic tolling proposals during the Transportation Committee meeting on March 20^th.

“Today I had the opportunity to take my first of many votes against tolls this session. Tolls simply don’t make any sense in Connecticut. People use our highways like local roads and if we institute tolls on Connecticut’s highways, drivers and truckers will just take an exit onto actual local roads, congesting our towns and cities,” said Senator Kissel.

“The major freeway in north-central Connecticut, I-91, was never meant to be a toll road. There are three smaller secondary highways directly parallel to 91 that people use if there are accidents or traffic jams. If we approve tolls, those secondary roads will become the main transit route for everyone trying to avoid that extra tax. Toll roads in other states were built to be toll roads. Our highways, like I-91, were not.”

“As a longstanding opponent of tolls, I will continue to fight these bills with every last breath that I have because it is a mileage tax, plain and simple. It is an $800 million regressive tax that will hit our struggling middle class and not only increase the cost of driving, but will increase the cost of doing business and the cost of goods in our state. How many times do we have to say it? Connecticut residents are over-taxed. Let’s invest in our infrastructure, and let’s add value to our state, but let’s not do it by over taxing our constituents every chance we get.”

Senator Kissel voted against all three toll proposals (HB 7202, HB 7280 & SB 423) during the Transportation Committee meeting on March 20^th, 2019. All three bills were advanced to the floor with all Republican committee members voting against them.