Rhode Island governor on court’s ruling on truck tolling: ‘We’ll be appealing’

Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee has announced his administration will appeal a federal judge’s ruling that the state’s truck tolling program is unconstitutional.

In September, a federal court order the state to shut down the tolls as a result of a federal lawsuit from the trucking industry. Before the suit, highway tolls were only enforced on semis, not passenger vehicles or smaller trucks. The state’s reasoning for the tolls solely on commercial vehicles was that the larger vehicles do more damage to the roads.

The lawsuit filed by the American Trucking Associations successfully argued that Rhode Island’s plan violated the Commerce Clause, which forbids states from imposing charges with the intent to discriminate in favor of domestic, and against out-of-state or interstate, entities. The state was given 30 days to provide a notice of appeal.

“Rhode Island has a legitimate – even compelling – interest in the maintenance of its ailing bridges,” U.S. District Judge William Smith wrote in his decision. “But there is no reason that interest cannot be served by a tolling system that does not offend the Commerce Clause. Indeed, many states have implemented tolling systems that fairly apportion their costs across various users and do not discriminate against interstate commerce.”

At the time of the decision, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association applauded the court for ending the state’s truck-only tolls.

“We have always opposed these shortsighted schemes which turn trucks into cash cows as a way of bankrolling dubious pet projects that have absolutely no connection with highway safety,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer said. “We’re happy to see at least one court agree that these practices are unconstitutional. OOIDA will continue our nationwide fight against expanded tolling plans, especially ones that unfairly target commercial trucks.”

On Oct 12, McKee announced his intention to appeal the decision during a gubernatorial debate.

“We’ll appeal,” McKee said during the debate. “We met with the attorney general, the Senate president … along with the (House) speaker. We’ll be appealing.”

State Attorney General Peter Neronha represents the state in the case. He said the notice of appeal would be filed before the deadline later this month. While Neronha didn’t get into the specifics of the state’s case, he said they have a strong shot at the appeal.

“The reality is that the dormant Commerce Clause is not a settled area of the law, even at the U.S. Supreme Court,” Neronha told WPRI. “Given that the program here is unique. Given that there are arguments – I think good ones – as to why this tolling system should be upheld. Certainly it’s one that if the policymakers believe in the policy, then it is one that in my view there’s a credible appeal to be had, and then we should bring it.”

Ashley Kalus is the state’s Republican candidate for governor. During the debate, Kalus said that if elected she would not appeal the court’s decision, criticizing McKee for the amount of tax dollars being spent on the legal battle.

“We know that the law was unconstitutional and bad law. So instead of not doing it, we went ahead. And we spent $8 million on a politically connected law firm to fight that appeal, which we lost.” Kalus said. “What the governor is saying in appealing is he’s delaying the inevitability that he wants to tax or toll all trucks and cars.”

The governor had not previously indicated whether or not the state would appeal the decision. Spokespersons for both Senate President Dominick Ruggerio and House Speaker Joseph Shekarchi confirmed to WPRI news they had met with the governor and the attorney general to discuss a possible appeal.

“The consensus of all parties, based on the court’s decision and our respective legal teams, was that it would be in the best interest of the state to appeal Judge Smith’s ruling,” Shekarchi and Ruggerio told WPRI in a joint statement.

The intention of the truck toll program was to fund the state’s RhodeWorks program, which aimed to address the state’s dilapidated roads and bridges. Since 2018, the 12 truck toll locations across Rhode Island had generated approximately $100 million before being shut down last month. LL