Fasano says Lamont just trying to buy votes for tolls [WTNH News 8]

WTNH

Governor Lamont spent part of the day touring the mammoth new Amazon distribution center in North Haven that’s scheduled to be up and running by the end of next month.

He also took a little time to tout his plan to get tolls passed by offering a modest Income Tax cut saying, “I’m just trying to get the legislature intrigued by something, so we can get our transportation system fixed.”

If he can get tolls passed, his Income Tax cut would amount to about one to 3 dollars a week for average working couples. He’s also proposing a full toll refund credit for people that don’t pay any Income Tax at all.

It’s a plan the leader in the Senate, Sen. Martin Looney (D-New Haven), the Senate President Pro Tempore, likes, saying, “I’m very much encouraged by that because it makes the whole idea more progressive I think, in terms of its impact than the original proposal.”

And Sen. Looney says he is hoping that the dialog on this can lead to something that can attract at least some Republican votes adding, “On a matter of this scope, I think it would be best if we could have a consensus bipartisan approach to this major issue of funding transportation.”

But the Senate Republican leader, Senator Len Fasano (R-North Haven) is ruling out any compromise involving this modest tax cut saying, “That’s just a way to buy a vote and if it got through, a year from now they could take it right back so it doesn’t mean anything.”

Right now it appears that lawmakers will be coming back to Hartford on July 8th to vote on school construction and bonding issues. The discussion about tolls could last all summer.