To the Editor:

For Rhode Island residents Feb. 11, 2016 was a day of infamy. Governor Gina Raimondo, Speaker Nicholas Mattiello, and Senator Teresa Paiva Weed turned democracy into monarchy. They chose to enact a $600 million bridge and road repair bill. This will probably grow to $1 billion after placing camera tolls, interest on bonds, and cost overruns.

Their action in conjunction with each other put through a power play that overwhelmed the legislative body of the Senate and House of Representatives. The finance committees in a second gave the big OK. I’m a member of the George Wiley Center, the Senior Agenda, and AARP. Working together with Senator Erin Lynch and Representative Edie Ajello in the House, this bill cost just $3.6 million and would help seniors get their Part B Medicare premium paid. We have been working five years for them to OK and they can’t seem to handle. These people are living below the poverty line.

The TV stations reported that several legislators had lost their committee seats because they voted against the tolls. They had not obeyed the queen and royal family.

They say I am a socialist because I belong to groups that protect people from freezing or overheating, retirees who are living on a poverty level. I wear that proudly. This thing of trickle-down doesn’t work.

Question – If cars do not damage, why do you toll them on the Pell Bridge? Why should people living in the bridge area have to use it [when] their cars are being tolled? I believe that the rest of the state is not. If cars do no damage, why is Cowesett Road from Post Road to Route 2 so bumpy from patchwork? I have been traveling that road for 10 years and have never seen a truck, but plenty of school buses.

We live in a state where vehicles cause a great deal of damage. We have quick freezes, which opens up small cracks and you get potholes.

The trucking industry has already been consolidating in the bad economy. They have low mileage vehicles and pay two to three times more gas than cars. The legislature disagrees with this because the gasoline tax goes in to the general fund. The gasoline tax should be used only for repairs of roads and bridges. We should have no tolls and increase tourism.

Gasoline is at the lowest cost in years. We pay 29 cents a gallon in taxes; raise it to 40 and pay as you go. No tolls. No bonds. When you issue bonds, that’s taxation. When you add fees to the bonds, that’s taxation. The banking industry has to add that cost to delivery. The merchant has to pass it on to the consumers.

Governor, your end run has disgraced us on politics. We have gone from 50th to infinity. Have you put safeguards on the contract to construction companies so $1million doesn’t become $3 million? Will you demand that all the work be done by Rhode Island people? We have 1 million residents misuse the legislative body. They deserved a special election on this issue. You have made us the “toll state.” Congratulations. “Truckers beware.”

Trucking industry, please do not sue us. It will cost us $2 billion. Act of Disobedience is the way. Don’t pay them.

Elmer H. Gardiner

Warwick