MTAC 2021 Legislative Recap

The 2021 legislative session has adjourned, and MTAC would like to provide a summary of some of the major legislative issues that we worked on in 2021. Please review the summary below, and contact Joe Sculley directly if you have any questions on these, or any other legislative or regulatory issues.

Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI)

The Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) is (was) a cap-and-trade program which claimed to reduce emissions from the transportation sector of the economy. TCI was initially comprised of the 12 states between Maine and Virginia, plus the District of Columbia. However, when the TCI Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was released in December 2020, it was only signed by three (3) states (Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island) plus DC. MTAC and our allies opposed TCI because it would essentially amount to another fuel tax, but would not spend any of the revenue on infrastructure like highways, roads, and bridges. Additionally, TCI materials admitted that the region would see significant emissions reductions over the same time period, even if TCI were NOT implemented.

Written testimony submitted to the legislature’s Environment Committee can be seen here.

An Op Ed by MTAC President Joe Sculley outlining the problems associated with TCI can be seen here.

During the regular legislative session, the bill that would have authorized TCI passed out of the Environment Committee, as expected. As the regular session was coming to a close, Governor Lamont pushed for it to be included in legislation that would set the state budget, but legislative leaders refused. However, in the special session of the legislature that was called in order to pass the “budget implementer” bill, a provision was included that would have created a “back door” for TCI to be implemented. The provision would have allowed heads of state agencies to enter into contractual agreements (such as TCI) with other states. The budget implementer bill passed the Senate with this provision included, but the House of Representatives removed it (in addition to making other changes) and sent it back to the Senate, which approved the amended budget implementer.

There will probably be future attempts to implement TCI, but that could be difficult, as the initial TCI coalition has almost completely collapsed.

Connecticut Adoption of California’s Truck Emissions Standards

MTAC opposed this bill, SB 931, which would have authorized the State of Connecticut to enforce emissions standards for commercial trucks set by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) rather than standards set by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The CARB standards are more stringent than EPA standards. MTAC’s opposition stemmed from the realization that this bill would put Connecticut-based businesses at a competitive disadvantage by mandating that they purchase trucks with unproven technology, and these trucks will be more expensive than what their competitors in other states will purchase. One aspect of this is a phase-in of electric truck sales mandates, where electric tractor trailers are expected to cost as much as $86,000 more than their clean diesel counterparts. Meanwhile, trucks that do not meet California’s more stringent standards could still drive through Connecticut anyway.

The testimony submitted by MTAC can be seen here.

During the Environment Committee’s debate on the bill (SB 931), proponents did not have an answer when asked what environmental benefits would happen in Connecticut if this bill were to pass. Despite that, the bill passed out of the Environment Committee, as expected. The bill was also passed out of the Senate (as MTAC thought was possible) after a meaningless amendment was approved for the bill. However, this bill did not pass out of the House of Representatives.

Proponents will probably try to bring this bill back in the future.

An Act Concerning Commercial Driver’s License Holders and Pretrial Alcohol Education Programs

MTAC opposed this bill, House Bill 6539, because it would have violated federal regulation and resulted in Connecticut losing significant amounts of federal highway funds.

The bill would have allowed certain Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) holders to enter into a pre-trial diversion program if they were arrested for DUI while driving their passenger car. This is a violation of  federal “anti-masking” regulations. Not only would Connecticut have lost federal highway funds, it risked having its entire CDL program decertified, meaning no truck drivers could be licensed by the State of Connecticut.

MTAC’s testimony submitted to the Judiciary Committee can be seen here.

The Judiciary Committee ultimately deleted the pre-trial diversion provision from the bill before passing it out of the Committee.

An Act Concerning Commercial and Combination Registrations

MTAC opposed this bill, which would have required the inclusion of “motor vehicle operator license numbers on combination and commercial registrations and to make locating business owners and principals easier.” This is obviously unworkable, as any truck in a fleet can be driven by any qualified driver on any given day.

The testimony submitted by MTAC can be seen here.

This bill was referred to the Transportation Committee, but did not advance.

Driver Responsibility at Inoperative Traffic Signals

This bill, HB 5420, was introduced following widespread power outages during a tropical storm in the summer of 2020. In short, it will “require a motor vehicle operator, when approaching an intersection with an inoperative traffic control signal, to stop as though such intersection was controlled by a stop sign.” MTAC submitted testimony in support of the bill, which can be seen here. The bill was passed by the House and Senate, and signed by the Governor.

An Act Eliminating the Property Tax on Certain Motor Vehicles and Adjusting the Uniform Property Assessment Rate

This bill, SB 1105, would have eliminated the property tax on motor vehicles (except for rental vehicles), in exchange for allowing municipalities to assess taxes on real property at 100% of Fair Market Value. Currently, municipalities can only assess property taxes at 70% of Fair Market Value. MTAC members had concerns that they ultimately would face a higher tax burden than they currently do if municipalities are allowed to assess property taxes at 100% FMV. Yes, they would not owe property taxes on motor vehicles, but the increased tax burden on real property would have exceeded the savings from the elimination of motor vehicle property taxes.

MTAC’s testimony submitted to the legislature’s Finance, Revenue & Bonding Committee can be seen here.

The Finance, Revenue & Bonding Committee did not advance this legislation.

An Act Concerning the State Budget for the Biennium Ending June 13, 2023, and Making Appropriations Therefor

This bill, HB 6439, is the spending side of the state budget. MTAC submitted testimony suggesting that several expenses contained in the Special Transportation Fund could be moved back to the General Fund, from which they were initially paid. The suggestions contained in the testimony would have created even more money for the fund than what Governor Lamont was pitching with both the Highway Use Tax and the TCI program combined.

The testimony submitted by MTAC to the Appropriations Committee can be seen here.

Ultimately, the Appropriations Committee did not act on these suggestions by MTAC.

Highway Use Tax

The legislature ultimately passed Governor Lamont’s proposed highway use tax, often known as a weight-distance tax in the trucking industry. MTAC previously provided a lengthy recap of efforts on that specific issue, which can be seen here.