Transportation reform bills go to conference
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April 28, 2009
Both bills would consolidate, to varying extents, highway, mass transit and aeronautics programs under a new central transportation authority and would make changes to help control the costs of labor, including the elimination of the so-called “23 and out” rule at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
Neither branch, however, took up a gas tax increase, which the governor proposed as a way to raise revenue for roads and bridges.
The House plan appears more favorable for cities and towns, as it would ensure a level of accountability with respect to the financing of transportation projects across the state. Unlike the Senate, the House plan would maintain the current legislative approval process for capital bond authorizations for programs such as Chapter 90, the Small Town Roads Assistance Program (STRAP), and the Public Works Economic Development (PWED) grant program.
The Senate plan would give spending powers to a new authority appointed by the governor.
The House plan would establish a new Division of Constituent and Municipal Services, which would serve as the primary point of contact for local officials. The division would provide technical assistance to communities, help communities and private entities with projects critical to economic development, and ensure equity in the transportation system.
The Senate bill would not establish such a department within its proposed agency structure.
Unlike the House plan, the Senate bill would establish several advisory boards to oversee highway and transit agencies. The MBTA would be left intact under the House plan, while the Senate plan would establish a new Department of Public Transit governed by advisory boards that would oversee both the MBTA and regional transit authorities.
The Senate bill would create a new Department of Roads and Bridges responsible for MassHighway, Mass. Turnpike and Department of Conservation and Recreation roads and bridges, and overseen by an advisory board. The House would maintain a Highway Division within the Department of Transportation, without such an advisory board.
The Senate and House bills both maintain statutory language governing the Chapter 90 and Chapter 81 programs. They would also preserve the STRAP and PWED program.
The House plan includes some MMA-supported initiatives proposed by the Patrick administration, including the creation of a Gateway Cities Program to provide grants for larger communities with high unemployment, and a Regional Mobility Assistance Program. The Senate did not include these provisions in its bill.
On April 23, the MMA’s Policy Committee on Public Works, Transportation and Public Utilities met with Transportation Undersecretary Jeffrey Mullan to discuss the reform measures. Mullan said he shared the MMA’s concerns with respect to the level of autonomy that the Senate plan would vest with its proposed mega-agency.
The MMA committee expressed support for the governor’s proposed gas tax increase, as long as cities and towns are exempt from the additional tax and communities receive their fair share of the new revenues.
Senators named to the conference committee for the transportation reform bills are Steven Baddour of Methuen, Stephen Brewer of Barre and Robert Hedlund of Weymouth. The House negotiators are Joseph Wagner of Chicopee, Charles Murphy of Burlington, and George Peterson of Grafton.
The conference committee has not met, nor has it indicated when it will meet.
- Written by Administrator
