Baker opposed to new taxes in House transportation plan
Gov. Charlie Baker is against the taxes proposed in the House transportation financing plan, he said, arguing that the state can afford to upgrade its transit system without new sources of revenue.
“I don’t think we need to raise taxes to fund the plan that we filed, which is actually a bigger plan than the one that is going to be debated by the House next week,” Baker told reporters Thursday, referencing his $18 billion transportation borrowing bill filed last year.
Baker’s bill would dole out money for a range of projects over a 10-year period, including $5.7 billion on the MBTA and about $11 billion on roads and bridges. The legislation also calls for reforms to speed up projects, reduce greenhouse gases and mitigate traffic problems, and outlines a new revenue source that could direct tens or hundreds of millions of dollars a year to public transit.
Conversely, the House package would borrow $14.5 billion, some of which would increase the amount of money given to municipalities for local infrastructure. The legislation, unveiled Wednesday, is composed of gas tax hikes (of 5 cents per gallon on gasoline and 9 cents per gallon on diesel fuel), increased ride hailing fees, a rise in the corporate minimum tax of up to $150,000, and an elimination of a rental car sales tax exemption worth $110 million.
“The status quo is not working,” Transportation for Massachusetts Executive Director Chris Dempsey said. “Though the House’s proposal is not a silver bullet, it is a sign that the Legislature is taking this problem seriously. While Gov. Baker’s planned spending on transportation is significant, it is not enough to fix a broken MBTA, pot-holed roads, and the worst traffic congestion in the country.”
Baker fell short of committing to veto the taxes when asked, however, despite his opposition.
“Well, I’ve said before that I don’t think we should be raising the gas tax,” Baker said. “It doesn’t do anything for climate and it doesn’t do anything to change behavior and it doesn’t involve multiple states, which is a big part of what makes the TCI initiative, I think, important.”
The House bill includes language that would charge the administration with figuring out a way to offset the gas tax increase if the Transportation Climate Initiative is successful. The TCI is a regional agreement that would raise gas prices by up to 17 cents in the first year to reduce carbon emissions. Baker continues to push for the measure while House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Transportation Chair William Straus have stressed a lack of regional support.
Straus called the TCI a “dangerous revenue source,” due to its uncertainty, while DeLeo said it was “very iffy as we sit here today,” on Wednesday. Governors in Maine, Connecticut and Vermont have also cast a shadow on the TCI while New Hampshire and Vermont have indicated they will not participate.
“There’s no bank account that anyone could go to today to go write a check with TCI money. To make it absolutely clear what I’m saying, TCI does not exist,” Straus told the Herald. “Whether I like the program or not, it does appear that there is limited likelihood or prospect that any other state is going to come along.”
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3a3VLvQ
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