OLR Bill Analysis

sSB 76 (File 399, as amended by Senate "A")*

AN ACT CONCERNING THE POWER OF THE COMMISSIONER OF TRANSPORTATION TO CONDUCT A MILEAGE TAX STUDY WITH STATE FUNDS.

SUMMARY

This bill requires the legislature to approve, through a specified process, the use of any state money by the Department of Transportation (DOT) for a study, plan, program, material, or activity concerning the use of a mileage-based user fee for motor vehicles operated on state roads. Under a mileage-based user fee system, motorists pay a fee for each mile they drive.

*Senate Amendment "A" replaces the underlying bill, which prohibited the transportation commissioner from using state funds to participate in a federal study of mileage-based user fees. It requires the legislature to approve any such study and sets out the process for such approval.

EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage

LEGISLATIVE APPROVAL PROCESS

Under the bill, DOT must file a request to approve such a proposed expenditure with the House and Senate clerks. A majority vote in each chamber is needed to approve the expenditure. Either chamber may reject the expenditure by a majority vote.

If the legislature is in session, it must vote to approve or reject the proposed expenditure no later than 30 days after DOT files the request with the House and Senate clerks. If the legislature is not in session when DOT files the request, the request must be submitted no later than 10 days after the first day of the next regular session or a special session called to consider it.

The proposed expenditure is deemed rejected if the legislature does not vote to approve or reject it within 30 days after it is filed. The 30-day period does not begin or end unless the legislature is in regular session. Any request filed with the clerks within 30 days before the start of a regular session is deemed filed on the first day of the regular session.

BACKGROUND

Mileage-Based User Fee Study

Connecticut was one of five states jointly awarded a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) grant to study the use of a mileage-based user fee as a transportation financing mechanism. Connecticut, Delaware, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Vermont applied for the $2.98 million grant on behalf of the I-95 Corridor Coalition. Under the terms of the grant, the FWHA would contribute half the money, or $1.49 million, and each state would contribute a portion of the remaining $1.49 million, with Connecticut contributing $300,000.

COMMITTEE ACTION

Transportation Committee

Joint Favorable Substitute