BRADENTON, Fla. - Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear vetoed enabling legislation for statewide use of public-private partnerships late Friday saying it was wrong to enshrine in law a toll ban on a long-planned $3.5 billion bridge project.
The bill imposed additional legislative review requirements if a P3 were to be used for the Brent Spence Bridge replacement project, and it prohibited placing tolls on the bridge. A P3 and toll financing are expected to be used on the project between Cincinnati and northern Kentucky.
"It is imprudent to eliminate any potential means of financing construction of such a vital piece of infrastructure that serves not only the Commonwealth and the state of Ohio but also the eastern United States," Beshear's veto message said. "Issues relating to a single project such as this should not be enshrined in permanent law."
The bill had wide support, and in the last week more than 30 organizations and Lexington Mayor Jim Gray wrote to Beshear saying that the bill would offer clear guidelines for using P3s across the state, leading to job creation and taxpayer savings.
Supporters also said that states surrounding Kentucky already have such laws. Some told Beshear that even though there would be a toll prohibition for one area of the state, other areas want the benefits offered by the legislation.
House Bill 407 passed the House 86-to-9, and the Senate 27-to-9 as amended by State Rep. Arnold Simpson, D-Covington.
In addition to enabling legislation for P3s, the bill would have authorized the use of tolls in conjunction with a P3 throughout the state except on a development agreement or financial plan "for any project involving the federal interstate highway system that connects the Commonwealth with the state of Ohio."
That toll prohibition, at Simpson's behest, was directed at the 51-year-old, double-deck Brent Spence Bridge, which carries traffic on Interstates 75 and 71 between Cincinnati and northern Kentucky.
Kentucky and Ohio have worked on a plan for years to deal with severe congestion in the corridor because the bridge carries twice the amount of traffic than it was designed to handle, and it's expected to get worse over time.
State officials settled on a $3.5 billion plan to renovate the existing Brent Spence Bridge and build a new adjacent bridge.
A recent state study said that a P3 likely would be used to do the bridge project in conjunction with tolls as a major funding source.
"The mere possibility of the utilization of [HB 407] as a device to toll the bridge that lies in northern Kentucky I feel is an affront and am really somewhat taken aback by it," said Simpson, who represents the area where many residents oppose tolls and commute to Cincinnati for work.
About 17,000 Kentuckians crossing the bridge twice each weekday to work in Ohio and about 12,000 Ohioans use the bridge twice each weekday to work in Kentucky, according to a study commissioned by the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce in January.
Mike Hancock, Kentucky's Transportation Cabinet secretary, said the financial planning for the Brent Spence Bridge project is still in the "very early stages" and will undergo changes as the states pursue a loan through the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act program.
Hancock has said without tolls there isn't money to do the Brent Spence project.
