OLR Bill Analysis

HJ 304

Emergency Certification

RESOLUTION PROPOSING A STATE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO PROTECT TRANSPORTATION FUNDS.

SUMMARY:

This resolution proposes a constitutional amendment that:

1. maintains the Special Transportation Fund (STF) as a perpetual fund;

2. requires the legislature to use the STF solely for transportation purposes, including paying debt service on state obligations incurred for those purposes;

3. requires STF funding sources that must be legally credited, deposited, or transferred to the STF on or after the amendment's effective date to be credited, deposited, or transferred to the STF as long as state law authorizes the state, or any of its officers, to collect or receive those sources; and

4. prohibits the legislature from enacting a law authorizing the spending of STF funds for any purpose other than transportation.

The ballot designation to be used when the amendment is presented at the general election is “Shall the Constitution of the State be amended to ensure (1) that all moneys contained in the Special Transportation Fund be used solely for transportation purposes, including the payment of debts of the state incurred for transportation purposes, and (2) that sources of funds deposited in the Special Transportation Fund be deposited in said fund so long as such sources are authorized by statute to be collected or received by the state?”

EFFECTIVE DATE: If the resolution passes by at least three-fourths of the membership of each house of the General Assembly, it will be placed on the 2016 general election ballot. If it passes by a majority of the members of each house but less than three-fourths, it will be referred to the 2017 session of the legislature. If it passes in that session by a majority of each house, it will appear on the 2018 general election ballot. If a majority of those voting in the general election approves the amendment, it will become part of the state constitution.

BACKGROUND

Special Transportation Fund

By law, the STF pays for state highway and public transportation projects. It is supported by a number of revenue streams, including the motor fuels tax, motor carrier road tax, petroleum products gross earnings tax, certain motor vehicle receipts and fees (e.g., driver's license fees), and surcharges on motor vehicle-related fines and penalties (CGS § 13b-61). In addition, PA 15-244 (§ 74) and PA 15-5, June Special Session (JSS), (§ 132) require the revenue services commissioner to direct a portion of sales tax revenue to the STF beginning in FY 16.

By law, money in the fund must be used first for debt service on special tax obligation bonds and to pay for certain transportation projects. Remaining funds must be used to pay for (1) general obligation bonds issued for transportation projects, (2) budget appropriations for the departments of Transportation and Motor Vehicles, (3) Department of Energy and Environmental Protection boating regulation and enforcement, and (4) the Department of Social Services' transportation for employment independence program (CGS § 13b-69, as amended by PA 15-5, JSS, (§ 40)).

Statutory “Lockbox”

PA 15-5, JSS (§§ 432, 433, & 514) makes the STF a perpetual fund and restricts the use of STF funds to transportation purposes only, including paying debt service on state transportation obligations. It prohibits the legislature from passing any law authorizing the use of STF funds for any purpose other than transportation. Under the principle of “legislative entrenchment,” it is unclear whether these statutory provisions are enforceable on future legislatures.

Legislative entrenchment refers to one legislature statutorily restricting a future legislature's ability to enact legislation. The Connecticut Supreme Court has held that such a provision (a statute prohibiting general legislation from being included in an appropriations bill) was unenforceable, writing that “to hold otherwise would be to hold that one General Assembly could effectively control the enactment of legislation by a subsequent General Assembly. This is obviously not true, except where vested rights, protected by the constitution, have accrued under the earlier act” (Patterson v. Dempsey, 152 Conn. 431 (1965)).