RI House approves truck toll plan

February 10, 2016 6:50 pm

By Samantha Fenlon

sfenlon@abc6.com

The House of Representatives has approved Governor Gina Raimondo’s revised RhodeWorks plan. The vote coming down just before 11pm. It passed 52-21.

It was a long night with debate lasting around 7 hours.

The updated bill was introduced less than two weeks ago and was fast-tracked through committees.

A majority of Wednesday night’s meeting was spent debating proposed amendments to the bill.

"You’ve been throwing a lot of baloney and rhetoric about this bill and that’s the problem with this bill–it’s a good bill but the rhetoric is trying to cloud up all the facts that we have," said Rep. Charlene Lima.

"If anyone in this room thinks for one second that this government or any government does not or has not abused power, such as described in this amendment, then they are either on another planet or they haven’t lived in Rhode Island long enough," said Rep. Mike Chippendale.

The revised version would put 14 gantries across the state, which are expected to bring in 45 million dollars a year to fund road repairs for the state’s declining roads and bridges.

The vote will now go to the Senate Thursday for a vote. House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello says he wants it on the Governor’s desk by the end of the week.