Excerpts from the article as it appears in the Westport News:

WESTPORT — State representatives are speaking out both in favor and against tolls after Gov. Ned Lamont offered two potential paths for instituting highway tolls in his budget proposal last week.

State Sen. Tony Hwang, R-28, said tolls wouldn’t be an immediate “panacea to our transportation ills.” When asked about solutions, said he was open to exploring public private partnerships and a prioritization of transportation projects through the Legislature.

Although he does not have a vote in the Legislature, Westport First Selectman Jim Marpe said he’s concerned tolls may may aggravate traffic in town if people choose to use local Westport roads to avoid highway tolls. Marpe said he’s also worried about the impact of tolls on people who commute into Westport to work from out of state.

“I’m as much an advocate to fix our transportation system as anyone and recognize this will take billions of dollars,” Marpe said, adding he’s in favor of tolling trucks, but wants to see the state reduce costs through pension reform to free up money for transportation fixes.

“It isn’t enough to keep raising money. I think we need to save money as well and direct it toward important transportation infrastructure investments,” Marpe said.

State Senator Tony Hwang (R-28) released the following statement after the Public Safety & Security Committee Meeting voted to draft the following bills concerning sports gambling and casino expansion.

The Connecticut General Assembly’s Public Safety & Security Committee met on Thursday, February 28th and voted to draft four pieces of legislation concerning sports betting and casino expansion. All four bills [HB 7055, SB 11, SB 17 & SB 665] were voted out of the committee on February 28th.

• Proposed H.B. No. 7055 – AN ACT CREATING THE CONNECTICUT GAMING COMMISSION AND CREATING A COMPETITIVE BIDDING PROCESS FOR A RESORT-CASINO
• Proposed S.B. No. 11 – AN ACT CONCERNING THE AUTHORIZATION OF A CASINO GAMING FACILITY IN EAST WINDSOR
• Proposed S.B. No. 17  – AN ACT AUTHORIZING SPORTS WAGERING, INTERNET GAMBLING AND INTERNET KENO
• Proposed S.B. No. 665 – AN ACT CONCERNING SPORTS WAGERING

State Senator Tony Hwang (R-28), Ranking Member of the Public Safety & Security Committee, cautiously voted to draft legislative language and reserve his deciding committee vote after carefully evaluating all four gambling related measures and the implications of the statutory language and legislative intent.

“I remain concerned and uneasy about the idea of gambling expansion in Connecticut for its devastating societal impact. This industry has shown to be over-saturated and a declining economic model. The two tribal casinos we already have are showing diminishing returns month after month, and the MGM casino in Springfield, MA, with rosy promises to be economically revitalizing, is underperforming,” said Senator Hwang. “I reluctantly voted to advance drafting of statutory language as part of committee leadership to move the discussion forward. I believed this issue deserve the attention and debate of the full legislative body. We should be debating fully-drafted and vetted legislation, not concepts.”

Senator Hwang listed his concerns as the following:

• the constitutionality of current exclusive gaming compacts the state has with the tribes which guarantees a percentage of their slot machine revenue.
• risk losing current revenue from tribal compact with an open request for proposal (RFP) bidding process for a new casino and with sports gambling.
• most importantly, we must address the societal costs of addiction tied directly to increase access to and proliferation of gambling.

“Any deal we strike that would result in higher profits for the gaming industry and state government should be accompanied by proportional increases in funding for combatting gambling addiction, expanding mental health services, and any other historical beneficiaries.”

“When it comes to sports gambling, specifically, I understand my colleagues’ desire to push this through as fast as possible to better compete with our neighboring states. I strongly believe that we should wait, learn from their experience and possible mistakes, and perhaps be wiser in adopting a better version of the policy or not doing so at all.”

“I look forward to the committee and possibly Senate floor debate on these critical issues so that we may reach the best possible solution for the state.  Meanwhile, I welcome testimony and community feedback on these issues by contacting my office 860.240.8805, my email: Tony.Hwang@cga.ct.gov or visit www.SenatorHwang.com”

Watch Senator Hwang and Senator Paul Formica debate proposed gambling legislation during the February 26th Public Safety Committee Public Hearing HERE.

State Senator Tony Hwang (R-28) and State Senator Paul Formica (R-20) discuss gambling expansion bills during the February 26th Public Safety Committee Hearing.

SB 851 is a bill that would prohibit the disaggregation of student data by ethnic subgroup. Listen to my Interview with Christine Stuart and Seth Blair to hear why I proposed this critical legislation.