Patrick: Transportation Reform a Necessity
 Gov. Deval Patrick testifies before the Joint Committee on Transportation in Springfield in this screen capture from WWLP's live stream of the event. |
The state's transportation system is in dire need of reform, he told the Joint Committee on Transportation on Wednesday, and that will require the funding to fix a badly broken and debt-ridden system.
"The days of avoiding the truth must end and end now," he said. "Time is running out."
The public hearing at Springfield Technical Community College was the first of four across the state to review the governor's transportation reform plan that includes a controversial 19-cent gas tax. The governor was the first to testify at the hearing, which was streamed live by WWLP Channel 22 of Springfield.
Patrick said he realized that past problems with the state's multiple transportation agencies had angered and frustrated citizens - from shirking toll takers to police flagging duties to Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority's "23 years and out" retirement plans.
"Shoddy oversight on the Big Dig has shattered citizens' confidence," he said, but added, "this is where we are and we are all here together."
Patrick is pushing to consolidate the multiple transit agencies into four, reduce the work force and streamline projects and policies. Some of that has already begun with MassHighway, which is fast-tracking projects such as the Hadley Overpass that has waited for years for renovation.
| Where it will the 19 cents go? | |
| 4 cents | Rollback tolls |
| 6 cents |
MBTA services;
stall rate hike
|
| 1.5 cents | regional transit authorities |
| 1.5 cents | regional road projects |
| 3 cents | rail outside Boston |
| 1 cents | declining gas revnue |
"A highly functioning transportations system is not a luxury, it's a necessity," he said, but admitted that "judging by the phone calls and e-mail [the gas tax] is all anyone seems to want to talk about."
Committee House Chairman Joseph Wagner credited the governor for taking the lead in reform, but said his constituents didn't take the gas tax lightly, even if it was just a cup of coffee. "Many in Western Massachusetts, or at least in my community of Chicopee, think that number is on the high side."
Patrick responded he wasn't trivializing the amount but that it should be kept in mind that Americans were sending $4 a gallon to OPEC last summer "and getting nothing in return."
Western Mass. was on his mind, said the governor, and pledged to "institutionalize regional equity" in the return of funds raised through the tax.
Meanwhile, lawmakers shouldn't get hung up on the tax and not the other elements of restructuring the transporation network.
"I'll be blunt," he said. "Don't send a bill that is just about a revenue increase. I will not sign it. ... We must have reform."
Wagner, however, wondered if the state could handle reform and revenue at once in the current fiscal crisis.
"There's a fire in the kitchen and we're trying to put out the fire while we're remodeling the living room," he said. "Meanwhile, there's a tsunami ready to take out the whole house."
Update: Wagner told The Republican on Thursday, March 5, that lawmakers won't approve a gas tax as high as 19 cents.
