The state bond commission will decide Wednesday whether to approve $10 million to fund a study of road tolls in the state.
Governor Dannel Malloy is defending his executive order against criticism he’s received from Republican lawmakers. He said ordering a study is the right thing to do because it supports whoever has his job next.
“To handicap a future administration the way that my administration was handicapped on transportation doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Malloy said.
Malloy said the toll study would help the state legislature, because he believes lawmakers needed more information when they debated the issue last session. Also, Malloy said the research would provide the raw data needed to facilitate the process of installing tolls to fund transportation.
"What we are seeing is a very rapid of decline in revenue from other sources to support transportation -- when every car is a battery-operated car, gas tax will have no value," Malloy said. "We have to begin at least looking at -- and having a knowledge of -- how other states are facing that challenge."
Comptroller Kevin Lembo and Treasurer Denise Nappier, both members of the commission, disagree with the governor’s executive order. They believe the study should be developed instead by the legislature itself.
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