By Sam Wroblewski 630wpro.com
Rhode Island House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello said he supports the idea of a statewide toll on tractor trailers to help pull the state from its economic rut.
In an interview with WPRO’s Gene Valicenti Tuesday morning, Mattiello said the spirit of Governor Gina Raimondo’s ‘RhodeWorks’ plan is good, but that he needs to examine the proposal more closely and potentially make it better.
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“[The plan] is a good economic driver, it doesn’t cost us anything and it gives us the revenue to repair our bridges and our infrastructure; so it seems like an appropriate place to go,” said Mattiello.
While the Governor’s plan may not have a short term cost, the state would be on the hook to pay a little over half a billion dollars in interest on federal bonds to jump start the work to rebuild roads and bridges. Raimondo says the extra money would be accounted for by placing a specific toll on out-of-state tractor trailers.
The Speaker said the details of the Governor’s proposal still need to be worked out: specifically the placement of tolling gantries, cost of the toll, and which vehicles would be singled out for tolling.
State Republicans recently responded with their own “pay-as-you-go” plan which does away with the toll and finds funding for bridge repair by redirecting money from different state services and funds, paired with modest increases in state fees.
Mattiello responded to the Republican plan saying “pay-as-you-go” has a spotty track record in the state.
“We pay as we go for infrastructure today, we borrow for our federal match, and we always come up short,” said Mattiello.
“So if you like the way we’re going now, and you like having deficient bridges; that’s a great plan.”
Deputy Minority Leader Patricia Morgan fired back at Mattiello, saying: “Speaker Mattiello is wrong when he states we currently borrow to get money for our federal match. A few years ago we realized that borrowing was creating a serious problem for our budget. We stopped the practice.”
“The Governor’s borrowing/tolling proposal is a huge step backwards and will hurt our state for decades to come.”
She says her party’s plan puts more money towards the roads and at less cost to the taxpayer.
