Broken promises to fund transportation defined last 15 years

From CT Mirror. The caller, identified as “Bob from West Hartford,” hit a nerve when he dialed into Gov. Ned Lamont’s Jan. 9 appearance on WTIC-1080 AM with morning hosts Ray Dunaway and Joe D’Ambrosio. “Hi, Governor Lamont. In the most recent [state] budget you diverted $170 million out of gas taxes in the Special…

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From CT Mirror.

The caller, identified as “Bob from West Hartford,” hit a nerve when he dialed into Gov. Ned Lamont’s Jan. 9 appearance on WTIC-1080 AM with morning hosts Ray Dunaway and Joe D’Ambrosio.

“Hi, Governor Lamont. In the most recent [state] budget you diverted $170 million out of gas taxes in the Special Transportation Fund,” Bob said.

“That’s a myth that gets perpetrated day-in and day-out,” Lamont responded. “There is no diversion taking place, so you can put that one to rest.”

Not so fast, governor.

Although Lamont and fellow Democrats insist the diversion charge is a “myth,” the truth is their argument is really just one of semantics.

Connecticut’s transportation program has been riddled, for more than a decade, by broken funding promises from both political parties. Between 2007 and 2019, officials pledged hundreds of millions of dollars for highways, bridges and rail lines, only to frequently snatch portions of it away at the last minute.

And for much of the same period, officials spent more than $1 billion in fuel tax receipts on non-transportation programs, despite often raising these taxes, purportedly to upgrade highways, bridges and rail lines.

See the complete article from CT Mirror online.

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