Fasano to Lamont: “Why Hide Your Tolls Numbers?”

Fasano Pushes for Governor Lamont to Release “Exact Numbers” He Claims he has on Tolls Proposal

Senate Republican Leader Len Fasano (R-North Haven) is again calling on Governor Lamont and Democrat leaders to release to the public, to the press and to all lawmakers the numbers associated with the Democrats’ latest toll proposal.

Earlier this week, Gov. Lamont told members of the press: “We have really good exact numbers on the number of trucks that go through…over each and every one of those 12 locations.” Yet those numbers have never been shared with the press, public or lawmakers.

“Governor Lamont claims he has exact numbers, but to this day the public, the press and rank and file lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have never seen them,” said Sen. Fasano. “Why hide the numbers? Even if a bill is released to the public in the coming days, we still need the backup data to understand if and how the numbers add up and if the proposal will actually generate the revenue Gov. Lamont claims it will. If the Democrats are confident in their toll plan, why is the governor hiding his ‘exact numbers’?

“I am sure the governor has given these ‘exact numbers’ to Democrat leaders. If that is the case they also should share those numbers with everyone. Before any public hearing takes place, the public and the lawmakers, Democrat and Republican, being asked to vote on a toll bill need to know what the numbers look like and how any and all projections were calculated. We need to be able to verify what we are being asked to vote on.”

Sen. Fasano wrote to Gov. Lamont repeatedly to request all backup data showing exactly what the latest toll proposal includes and supporting projections. He has requested, among many items:

• an updated pro forma,
• projections for the percentage of in state v. out of state trucks broken down by toll location,
• supportive analysis completed by CDM Smith including traffic projects and the impact of toll avoidance, and
• a list of which construction projects will be funded and which infrastructure programs were cut from the original CT2030 plan to reflect the reduced revenue.