By Sam Wroblewski 630wpro.com

House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello and other lawmakers will be working with local businesses to fine tune truck toll legislation to blunt the impact on local shipping operations.

RIDOT Director Peter Alviti told WPROi dump trucks and 18-wheelers from local operations such as Job Lot and Cardi’s would be caught up in the proposed truck toll as the legislation is currently written. The toll is Governor Gina Raimondo’s latest plan to spur economic growth while fixing the nation’s worst bridges.

Mattiello says he has no desire to charge local business for extra revenue.

“We’ll take into account the needs of our local businesses; we want to create jobs and create a better, more robust economy, not hurt it.”

Local trucking businesses had already expressed disapproval before the Governor’s proposal had been pitched, saying the tolls single out an industry which already pays its fair share of taxes and fees. Mattiello said not assessing fees to out-of-state trucking operations makes Rhode Island an outlier in the northeast.

“If the trucking companies pay the cost in all our neighboring states in the entire region and then you come to Rhode Island to get a free ride; and in Rhode Island we have terrible infrastructure.”

“The formula right now just doesn’t work,” continued the Speaker.

Mattiello also shrugged off suggestions that lawmakers raise the gas tax an additional five cents, saying he’d consider it but he is not endorsing a hike in taxes.

“I would suggest that would be at least as controversial if not more so and Rhode Islanders would pay that exclusively,” Mattiello said.

The Speaker said a proper vetting of the legislation will not occur if affected parties do not speak up.

Listen to the full interview below: