The two-year state budget Lamont proposed Wednesday includes a new highway mileage fee on trucks and includes Connecticut in a regional initiative to control greenhouse gases by changing transportation policy — a program that also would boost gasoline taxes. For years Connecticut has relied chiefly on fuel tax receipts to support the Special Transportation Fund, which pays off the hundreds of millions of dollars the state borrows annually to fix its infrastructure. Although he is optimistic President Joe Biden’s new administration will significantly increase federal funding for transportation, Connecticut must have its own resources and be ready to move when Washington does, Lamont said. Instead, his latest budget would create a highway usage fee on large trucks that is based on the vehicle’s size and miles traveled. It would target trucks in class sizes 6 through 13, charging between 2 and 10 cents per mile in most cases, but up to 17.5 cents in others, McCaw said. The program would generate about $90 million per year, the administration estimates.
Lamont’s budget keeps transportation program afloat through 2026 with new truck fee