04/16/2021
Section 10 of Senate Bill 1103 was snuck into a bill regarding motorcycle emissions and would devastate the “Passport to the Parks Program" which both funds the upkeep and safe operations of your State Parks, and enables all Connecticut residents to enter State Parks without paying a fee at the gate.
Such a policy change following one of most important years for Connecticut’s state parks would be absolutely devastating.
Here's why:
It is fiscally irresponsible: Connecticut residents own an average of two cars per household. If each household paid a fee on only one vehicle, that would reduce the funding for State Parks by 50% or more. In response, Parks or campgrounds would have to be closed, or go back to over-reliance on the general fund portion of the state budget.
DMV is set-up to track fees per vehicle, not per individual: This bill would require the DMV to incur significant costs to change its systems to be able to track the Passport to the Parks fee by individual. This would deepen the fiscal losses to the state budget that this bill would cause.
It is not fair: This would disproportionately put the burden of paying for State Parks on the backs of single car owners. Why should multiple car owners not have to pay the same reasonable fee on their additional vehicles?
The Passport to the Parks fee is reasonable: Multiple car owners can afford to pay a $5/vehicle/year fee (equivalent to less than 2 gallons of gas). This fee is especially reasonable considering that before the Passport one weekend visit to a shoreline State Park would cost you $13/visit.
Before the Passport to the Parks, Parks and campgrounds were on the brink of collapse: The Passport to the Parks went into effect in 2018 because 4 campgrounds had been closed and State Parks were threatened with moving to “passive management” (i.e. no people to keep parks and campgrounds safe).
If you exempt multiple car owners, who’s next? The current Passport to the Parks fee is fair because it applies equally to every vehicle owner. Exempting multiple car owners from paying this fee would open the floodgates for other groups to request an exemption, and the revenues generated by the Passport would be whittled away.
People are visiting State Parks more than ever: Over the past year, visitors to State Parks have increased by an estimated 10% or more. Every year since the Passport to the Parks began in 2018, more people have been getting to State Parks, and to cut State Park funding now makes no sense.
