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THE HEALEY ADMINISTRATION’S transportation funding task force appears to be moving in a somewhat different direction in the wake of Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt’s unfiltered comments in April about what taxes and fees she was eyeing – comments for which she was later rebuked by the governor.
The task force met on Wednesday and several members, who asked not to be identified, indicated afterward that the group is no longer going to work on developing a transportation funding plan. Instead, they said, the group intends to focus on developing a “tool kit” that could be used by policymakers to develop a transportation funding plan.
These task force members said the group is no longer going to attempt to reach consensus on a revenue target and won’t be breaking into subcommittees focused on specific types of revenue options. Instead, commission members on Wednesday talked about polling residents of Massachusetts on what kind of transportation system they want.
The members reportedly broke into groups to discuss competitiveness, equity, and affordability – buzz words of the Healey administration. Indeed, the governor was asked about the possibility of raising taxes last week and said that was not on her agenda. “That’s how I see it now and for the foreseeable future. Yeah, no taxes. I’ve been focused on trying to lower taxes,” she said.
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation issued a statement at 9:15 p.m. on Wednesday insisting the task force is operating business as usual.
“The mission of the task force has not changed – to explore how we can create a long-term, sustainable transportation finance plan that will ensure a safe, reliable, equitable, and efficient transportation system,” the statement said.
Tibbits-Nutt, the chair of the task force, launched it with high hopes, looking for sustainable funding for transportation amid budget shortfalls at the MBTA and concerns about the gas tax as consumers embrace cars powered by electricity.
In January, Tibbits-Nutt said the task force would be different from the many groups that have tried in the past to develop a solid funding framework for transportation in Massachusetts.
“It isn’t just like we hope this thing will happen,” she said after an MBTA board meeting in January. “It’s if we do these steps, these are what we think we can get in projected revenue from these particular items, these particular interventions. It is going to be very specific. We’re not going to be dodging potential options just for political reasons. That’s what’s going to be different this time.”
During a speech to the advocacy group Walk Massachusetts in April, she echoed those comments and talked about specific taxes and fees that were being considered.
“This [task force] is actually different because we’re not censoring it,” she said. “I’m going to talk about tolling. I’m going to talk about charging TNCs [transportation network companies like Uber and Lyft] more. I’m going to talk about potentially charging more for package deliveries, charging more for payroll tax — basically going after everybody who has money. And when I’m talking tolling, I’m talking at the borders. I’m not talking within Massachusetts.”
She added: “We’re going after all the people who should be giving us money to make our transportation better and our communities better.”
Four days after CommonWealth Beacon first reported on her April comments, Healey issued a statement saying Tibbits-Nutt’s comments about border tolling didn’t represent the views of her administration. The governor later criticized the tone of some of her cabinet secretary’s other comments.
At Wednesday’s task force meeting, several members said the tone of Tibbits-Nutt was very different. They said it seemed apparent that Tibbits-Nutt and the task forced had been reined in.
After Tibbits-Nutt’s comments stirred controversy, James Rooney, the president and CEO of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and a member of the task force, told CommonWealth Beacon that the task force would have to regroup. He noted none of the funding options Tibbits-Nutt had spoken about in her Walk Massachusetts talk had been raised with the task force previously. And he said the task force might have to start meeting more than once a month and may have to focus initially on short-term funding issues, like budget gaps at the MBTA, and leave longer-term funding issues until later.
One task force member said Rooney raised some of those issues with the group on Wednesday, including the possibility of dividing the work into immediate and longer-term priorities.The member said no action was taken on Rooney’s suggestion and the task force is continuing to meet once a month, except in August when no meeting is scheduled.
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This article first appeared on CommonWealth Beacon and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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