LC 2.2 Transportation Improvement Bill (Rejected)

[Adam Griffin]

I'm sorry, but middle class people don't earn $90k per year in my neighborhood. Gonna be a hard pass for me.

[Adam Griffin]

Mister Speaker, I offer the following amendment:

Transportation Improvement Bill

Section 1 (Title & Definitions)
1. For the purposes of this legislation, the word "road" refers to any avenue of transit.
2. For the purposes of this legislation, the word "toll" refers to any fee collected in exchange for access to a public or private avenue of transit.

Section 2 (Regulation of Toll Roads)
1. As of July 1, 2019, the practice of collecting tolls on any roads that are built and/or maintained with public funding shall be abolished.
2. As of July 1, 2019, any roads built and maintained exclusively with private funding may charge tolls, not to exceed $0.10 per mile.
3. As of July 1, 2019, all profits collected from tolls shall be taxed at a rate of 50%.

[Adam Griffin]

Toll roads serve practically no effective purpose, their creation leads to much higher costs for consumers than the increase in taxes would require per capita, and a combination of $0.10 per mile + increased taxes for justified road work in my amendment is far less than pinging people the better part of a dollar per mile across a variety of arterial roadways.

Likewise, we do not have the capacity for feasibility studies that are actually worthwhile; we're talking about building new highways and converting major highways into toll roads that cost 2-3x per mile what gas + car maintenance costs. It's ridiculous, and the original bill as-is is all fluff and no substance.

If there is a need for new highways and roads, the public sector is more than capable of making those decisions based on the good of the people. If not - but there is a desire for such - then a private company can choose to build a road and maintain it on their own to supply such a service. Why so many are in favor of handouts to corporations and taxpayer burdens that line the pockets of a few is beyond me. Taxpayers shouldn't be subsidizing private businesses when there is a clear, defined and well-established public sector alternative. All it ends up creating is waste and price-gouging.

[Adam Griffin]

Aye

[Adam Griffin]

Aye

[Adam Griffin]

Nay