The Foley and Malloy Prospectus Compared Part 5 – Transportation

This is the fifth in a series of blog posting regarding the plans of the Republican and Democratic candidates for governor, Tom Foley and Dan Malloy. All of the information provided in the posting is from the candidate’s web sites, http://www.danmalloy.com/policy and http://www.tomfoley2010.com clicking on the “Issues” and “Tom’s Plan” selections. The opinions are my own and not cleared with either candidate’s staff. In the interest of full disclosure, I am a supporter of Dan Malloy and worked as a volunteer on his 2006 campaign as well as the current 2010 campaign.

I will begin with some general observations about the plans that the candidates have posted on their web sites. If less is more, then Foley wins hands down. His plan turns out to be seven pages in my word document. The Malloy plan is a whopping forty eight pages with great detail. I guess that is fitting since most Republicans believe less government is better, obviously a short plan will lead to less government. From the Democratic perspective, government is good and Malloy shows just how he plans to shape and change much of the state government in great detail.

Of course, there is no guarantee that either of the candidate’s will do what they lay out on their web site when actually in office, but like a stock prospectus, it is an indication of the plan and direction each candidate will pursue once in office.

I am leaving out much of the explanatory text in the plans and just noting the planned action items. Both plans are written in the first person, so I will keep that same format as I quote or paraphrase from each plan. The reader will have to remember that the occasional “I” is either “Governor” Foley or “Governor” Malloy.

This comparison continues with the prospective governors’ take on transportation. Since I started with “Governor” Malloy in the last post, I will start with “Governor” Foley in this post. I will continue this alternate presenting throughout this series of postings.

“Governor” Tom Foley
. I will order the Commissioner of Transportation and the Transportation Strategy Board to ensure that the needs of employers are incorporated into the state’s transportation master plan


“Governor” Dan Malloy
As Governor, I will be committed to pursuing strategies that reduce congestion and that provide attractive mass transportation options.
Over the past few years, the legislature approved a number of key projects. Funding them has been a different story. The administration has expressed a concern about debt financing during recessionary times. I, too, share this concern.
However, leadership also requires the right choices. One result of this budget is that we have borrowed over $1 billion just to pay bills - the worst kind of debt-financing. Connecticut should have instead prioritized debt-financing for purposes with the greatest stimulus to the local economy. Connecticut projects like new rail stations, or connecting new commuter lines from New Haven to Springfield, Danbury to Milford, or New London to Worcester, have the potential to stimulate job growth and should receive priority.
More recently, Connecticut was shut out - completely - in a competition for $1.5 billion in federal transportation grants. Shut out, as in zero dollars.
Here's a promise I'll make, and be held accountable for: that will not happen when I'm Governor.

Comment
Transportation is one of the shortest sections in Malloy’s plan and Foley just had the one comment in his “Jobs and the Economy” section regarding transportation. Malloy points out in his plan the success he had in Stamford in increasing commuter rail service and the necessary amenities such as commuter parking and upgrading the train station. He believes he will be able to directly apply this success across the state.