During a Special Session of the Connecticut General Assembly on Tuesday, the Senate voted unanimously in favor of a resolution to protect the state’s transportation funding through a constitutional “lockbox.” The House also passed the measure, but not by a large enough margin (100-40) to advance a constitutional amendment. Eleven representatives were absent and did not vote.

A similar “lockbox” resolution had bipartisan support in the 2015 legislative session, but did not come up for a vote. In order to amend the state constitution, both houses must pass the resolution with a three-quarters majority, or it must be passed with a simple majority in consecutive legislative sessions. Then, it will be up to Nutmeg State voters to decide.

According to the Hartford Courant, there is still a chance that voters could decide on protecting transportation funds in the next election:

Since the 75 percent threshold was not reached, the lockbox plan could be delayed for two years and placed on the ballot in 2018. However, lawmakers could modify the resolution and bring it up for a vote during the General Assembly’s regular session, which begins in February. If they meet the three-fourths’ threshold then, the proposal could still come before voters in November.

Members of the Senate were able to rally around the lockbox measure despite a call from Oz Griebel, a member of the Governor’s Transportation Finance Panel, to delay the vote until the 2016 legislative session, which begins in February. Griebel’s reasoning: because the panel’s recommendations — which were supposed to be released in October — won’t be ready until January.

Votes against the bill in the House came not because of opposition to protecting transportation funding from raids, but because some representatives felt the language in the legislation was not strong enough. One House member, Rep. Bob Godfrey of Danbury, said the bill had “loopholes… big enough to drive a truck through,” and called the bill “a set-up for putting up tolls in the state of Connecticut.”

It’s true that a majority of Connecticut voters support reinstating highway tolls if the revenues that are collected are used solely for transportation purposes, so a lockbox on the Special Transportation Fund might boost public support for tolls. But Godfrey’s objections to tolls — rooted in the fact that his district is near the New York border — are misplaced. If the state does move to bring back highway tolls, they would be strategically located in the most congested corridors, like I-95 in the Stamford-Bridgeport area, or on I-84 in Hartford — not at the state’s borders.

Unlike the state budget resolution that was adopted this week, the transportation lockbox bill had several Republican supporters, including House Minority Leader Themis Klarides and Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano. Lawmakers should spend the weeks prior to the start of the regular session in February getting buy-in from those who voted against the bill, and rounding up the votes they’ll need to pass a stronger lockbox measure during the regular session.