Tolls for new Ohio River bridge? Lawmaker's proposal 'taken out of context,' he says

This article has been corrected to reflect that more than $2 billion worth of freight crosses the Brent Spence Bridge each day.

The $3.5 billion Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project is slated to be built without tolls – something lawmakers and Northern Kentucky commuters have celebrated.

But a Republican lawmaker suggested this week that tolls could still be a possibility, though he later said his words were taken out of context.

State Rep. Ken Upchurch, R-Monticello, reportedly said he'd advance legislation to toll the new Ohio River bridge if lawmakers – most from Northern Kentucky – insisted on changes to procedural rules in the General Assembly.

Upchurch, who sits on the House transportation committee, told The Enquirer in a statement Thursday not to worry.

“I gave an example of how a proposed rules change would hurt the legislative process. ... Unfortunately, that example was taken out of context and shared only in part - and I believe intentionally in an effort to mislead the public,” he said.

He made the statements about tolls on Tuesday during a caucus meeting that was closed to the public.

A threat or a 'joke'?

State Rep. Steve Rawlings, R-Burlington, said he couldn't comment on what happens in caucus meetings because they're supposed to be confidential and he could lose his committee assignments if he talks about what was discussed in a closed meeting.

"There's a lot of back and forth in the caucus meetings and statements," he said. "You don't know that it's serious. You don't really know the intention. Something could be said as a joke."

Multiple sources who were in the room when Upchurch made the comment, however, told The Enquirer it was clear the representative's comment about adding tolls to the Brent Spence Bridge would be retaliatory. They declined to be named because they fear retaliation from GOP leadership in the General Assembly.

Conservative radio host Andrew Cooperrider said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he'd confirmed similar information from people.

"Making an entire area of Kentucky pay a toll to cross a bridge because you are mad at the representatives from that area is exactly the kind of morally corrupt rot that those rules changes were trying to address," he wrote on X.

Why threaten threaten to add tolls?

Some Northern Kentucky lawmakers want to see changes to procedural rules in the General Assembly that would stop bills from being fast-tracked, making it easier for legislators to have their bills heard and voted on in committees.

Upchurch's comment about adding tolls to the Brent Spence Bridge came after several Northern Kentucky lawmakers signed a letter in December in support of procedural rule changes, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.

People who signed the letter include Northern Kentucky state representatives Savannah Maddox, R-Dry Ridge; Steve Doan, R-Erlanger; Marianne Proctor, R-Union; and Steve Rawlings, R-Burlington. Other representatives also signed the bill.

Doan said in a statement about the caucus meeting, "There were mixed views on how to address the rules changes and what impact they would have. That's the legislative process. It is my hope that together we can all move forward with putting the interests of our state and individual districts first."

The letter came on the heels of a report from the League of Women Voters of Northern Kentucky that was released in November.

According to data in the report, fewer than 5% of bills that became laws were fast-tracked through the general assembly about 25 years ago. In 2014, that percentage peaked at 42%. In 2022, about 32% of laws had been quickly moved through the legislative process with little time for public comment.

Can lawmakers add tolls to the Brent Spence Bridge?

It's unclear.

The Brent Spence Bridge is a major artery for freight in the country. More than $2 billion worth of freight crosses the bridge each day.

The new project, which will include a companion bridge next to the Brent Spence Bridge, will be funded by $1.6 billion from the federal government.

It took about two decades to get the money for the project and the state's reluctance to add tolls to any new bridge was among the major factors that slowed efforts to build one.

The Enquirer emailed and called the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet for a comment on the issue but has not heard back from officials.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Did KY GOP lawmaker threaten to toll the Brent Spence Bridge project?