News & Notes: No Gas-Tax Hearings in Berkshires
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Of the four public sessions planned across the state, the closest is being held in Springfield tonight with Gov. Deval Patrick planning to personally presenting the plan.
A spokesman in the district office of Rep. Joseph Wagner, House chairman of the Joint Committee on Transportation, told the Berkshire News Network that another meeting is scheduled for Methuen but two other locations are currently undetermined. The Berkshire News Network was told that one location could be on the South Shore but it wasn't thought that a meeting would set in the Berkshires.
What support there is for the tax is in the eastern part of the state, which is facing higher turnpike and bridge tolls and rate hikes for the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority.
The Berkshires is the most likely location to object to the governor's proposed gasoline tax. The rural area has minimal public transportation and a short section of the MassPike running through it.
"I will certainly convey that to [Transportation Secretary James A. Aloisi Jr.] that the berkshire should have one especially in light of the fact we are being asked to back the gas tax in an area that doesn't have an alternate form of transportation," said state Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli, D-Lenox, speaking with the Berkshire News Network. Berkshires residents are dependent on motor vehicles to get to around or to make a living, he said.
Pignatelli said adding another 19 cents to the gas tax in Massachusetts would make it the highest gas tax in the country. The state already has a 23.5 cent tax; while gas prices have dropped to nearly half that of last summer, they've slowly been creeping back up over the past couple months.
AAA of Southern New England found Monday that self-serve, regular unleaded gasoline was averaging $1.879 per gallon, two cents more than last week. Still, the current price is 6 cents below the national average for self-serve unleaded of $1.93, and the price is $1.20 less than the $3.07 found this time a year ago.
Patrick has said he would veto any gas tax thought too low to fund reforms and prevent toll and T hikes. The MassPike Authority last week OK'ed a $100 million toll hike that would reversed if the gas tax passed.
The tax will be a hard sell in Western Mass., where it's widely seen as just another scheme to pour money into Boston's Big Dig. Aloisi was in Springfield on Tuesday to rally support among Patrick campaign volunteers and rail backers, according to the Republican, with mixed results.
The Springfield session will be held this afternoon at 4 at Springfield College.
BRTA Hearings
Berkshire residents are getting chance to discuss ideas for public transportation in the county in at three public hearings.
The first was held last week in Pittsfield and was attended by about a dozen people. Berkshire Regional Transit Authority Administrator Gary Sheppard told the audience what he thinks people want, including Sunday and evening service.
The next meeting will be tonight at 6:30 at Western Gateway Heritage State Park in the Shippers Office at 115 State St., North Adams. The third will be held at the Mason Library in Great Barrington on Thursday, March 12, at 6:30.
