Boston Globe: “Mass. legislative leaders unveil $500m tax plan to shore up transportation system”
The plan, while it represents a significant tax increase, falls far short of the $1.9 billion tax hike that Governor Deval Patrick has been seeking and would not fund the major expansion of rail and road projects that the governor wants.
Kristina Egan, director of Transportation for Massachusetts, an advocacy group that had pushed for Patrick’s funding plan, called the proposal “woefully inadequate.” A lack of specific investments in capital projects, she said, was shortsighted and would prevent the state’s transportation infrastructure from accommodating the needs of residents.
“We have an unprecedented opportunity to make a transportation fix for the next generation, and I’m worried that we’re squandering it here,” Egan said. “It feels like this package is locking in chronic underfunding.”
Richard A. Dimino, president of A Better City, said the absence of capital projects in the legislature’s $500 million bill would mean that the state would possibly lose out on federal money for projects like the Green Line extension that are dependent on matching funds from the state government.
