A Connecticut congressman is calling on Washington to help fix the state's roads as the tolls debate drags on.

Rep. John Larson (D-Hartford) calls the proposal the "America Wins Act."  He wants the federal government to spend a trillion dollars over the next decade across the country. And if enough of that money was to come to Connecticut, Gov. Ned Lamont has said it could change the whole conversation about tolls.

Larson says the money could immediately go to projects like widening Interstates 95, 91, and 84, plus bridge projects -- the same items that Gov. Lamont has suggested that toll funds would cover.

"These can no longer be swept under the carpet or ignored," Larson says. "These are real problems that demand real solutions."

Construction unions say that the money would mean jobs here in Connecticut.

"We can't export jobs in our quarries and material plants, or on our projects. The work has to be done right here," says Don Schubert, of the CT Construction Industries Association.

But the $1 trillion from the proposal would come from a new carbon tax on coal, oil, and natural gas polluters -- and that idea is essentially a non-starter with Republicans. Still, President Donald Trump did promise a major infrastructure bill when he ran in 2016.

Meanwhile, Gov. Lamont says there are "ongoing quiet conversations" about tolls, but he's not ready to call the General Assembly back for a vote.