The Connecticut Legislature adjourned last Thursday after budget negotiations broke down between its Democratic leaders and Republican Governor John Rowland.Although the parties will meet for further negotations this week, the full legislature is not expected to reconvene in special session for a budget vote until June 18th at the earliest.One of the many bills left unattended during the final days of gridlock is the proposal to establish a Transportation Strategy Board.Pending legislation charges the board with developing a ten-year transportation improvement plan, carves the state into "Transportation Investment Areas,” and allots $50 million of last year's budget surplus for near-term transportation projects (MTR #304).

A Transportation Strategy Board bill stripped of the $50 million provision was approved by the Assembly last Tuesday, but was never raised for consideration in the Senate.However, legislators expect the Senate to eventually adopt the Assembly bill in some form and to allocate at least a portion of the $50 million as part of its budget resolution.

The Assembly bill does not ensure environmental, transit, and labor representation on the Strategy Board, or give the Board a substantive role in formulating the Department of Transportation budget.It does, however, make some provision for hiring board staff and gives the board access to staff at DOT and the Economic Development Corporation. Representative John Harkins of Stratford told the Associated Press, “We need to make sure this doesn't become just another level of bureaucracy.”But some advocates have been skeptical that established branches of government would ever cede power such as budget-making to anything resembling the Transportation Strategy Board.

Other promising transportation bills were left to founder in the Transportation and Appropriations Committee this session, including bills that would have established a Local Safe Streets and Traffic Calming program (MTR #303), directed government offices and business with more than 25 employees to begin offering the Federal transit benefit (Deduct-A-Ride), and appropriated funds to establish commuter rail between Hartford and New Haven.

Bill with such targeted, definable, and achievable goals may have been a more effective way to capitalize on the "fix transportation" energy stirring in Connecticut than six months of quibbling over an advisory board.Legislators should be aware that interest in better transportation will not disappear with the establishment of the Strategy Board, and the public will grow restive unless visible improvement start to be implemented.

CT Transport Panel to Issue Findings -  January 29, 2001

CT Transport Strategy Bill Released - March 19, 2001

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