Another area lawmaker is speaking out against an idea being discussed by the panel created by Governor Dannel Malloy to come up with ways to fund his 30-year transportation improvement plan. A so-called mileage fee has drawn criticism from Wilton Senator Toni Boucher. 

The fee would be assessed based on the number of miles driven per year, as determined by a car's GPS system. 

Boucher says the administration should look at how money currently coming in is spent.  She thinks residents have reached a tipping point with decisions being made by state officials.  She specifically pointed to the decision giving 12% raises to some employees, along with generous benefits to all others, and then turning around and taxing residents more.

Boucher says the Republican minority in the General Assembly has proposed ways Connecticut could achieve $500 million more in investments by reprioritizing and reallocating the current bonding capacity the state has for transportation infrastructure improvements.

Boucher called this mileage fee even more of an an intrusive invasion of a person's privacy than an EZpass which records where you pay a toll.  She asked those proposing the fee to imaging a device in the car that records every single location, saying it's like having someone following you every single day.

Boucher says one of the real problems with even discussing putting another fee on drivers, is that Connecticut motorists currently pay some of the highest fees in the nation.  Gas is already doubled taxed in Connecticut.  Not only is there an excise tax, but she notes there is also 8% more on that same gallon of gas.  She compared this proposal to the gas tax, a consumption-based tax, and said each mile driven would be double or tripled taxed.

Boucher says if the panel wanted to be truly honest about it, they could suggest raising the gas tax even further than where it already is.