Senate President Therese Murray and Senate Transportation Chair Steve Baddour today presented a bold outline of where the Senate hopes to lead Massachusetts in transportation policy. The plan outlined today had no revenue component, but Senator Baddour estimates cost savings of $6.5 billion over the next twenty years if implemented. The plan keeps the Senate firmly on the side of “reform before revenue”, and politically beats the Governor to the door on filing a specific plan. Coming one day before the Governor’s State of the State Address the Senate plan seizes the transportation initiative, and leaves the politically difficult job of addressing revenue enhancement to the Governor and Speaker. Therese Murray addressed the revenue issue.

During a press conference to outline the Senate’s general posture on transportation reform, an early session priority, Senate President Therese Murray said major changes in the system are necessary “before we ask taxpayers to dig deeper in their pockets for additional taxes or fees.”

Just in case you missed that last point lets see what else Madame President had to say on the subject:

Murray said the Senate would refuse to entertain discussion of new revenues, such as a toll or gas tax hike, until reforms were fully implemented. She also noted it is the job of the House, not the Senate to initiate revenue proposals.

“This is step one. This is opening the conversation,” she said. “Step two obviously would be, is there enough revenue in the present systems all put together for us not to have to go to the public for either an increase in tolls or an increase in the gas tax?”

“Most likely we will at the end of the day,” she continued, adding that taxpayers should not be asked to pay into a “black hole.”

The Senate derives their savings estimates from the implementation of many reforms advocated by the Transportation Finance Commission put together by Governor Mitt Romney. I have posted the full transportation finance report below. From the Senate Press Release:

Senate Continues Push for Major Transportation Reform,
Announces Plan to Create Unifying Authority
(Boston, MA) –The Senate today announced its plan for comprehensive transportation reform to
restructure the Commonwealth’s bankrupt transportation system under a single, unifying agency
to consolidate resources, simplify operations and reduce costs, with potential savings up to $6.5
billion over 20 years.
“Reform before revenue –that’s our priority in the Senate, and there’s no better place than our
transportation system to implement that philosophy,” Senate President Therese Murray (DPlymouth)
said. “With a growing funding gap and the deepening recession, we have to look at
major changes in transportation before we ask taxpayers to dig deeper in their pockets for
additional taxes or fees. We owe it to the public to put credibility back into the system and use
their money wisely.”
Senator Steven A. Baddour (D-Methuen), Senate Chair of the Transportation Committee, said:
“It is absolutely vital that we implement reforms and a restructuring plan. Rather than simply
throwing more toll and tax-payer money at a broken system, we need to ensure that we have the
most efficient system possible. This restructuring and reform will achieve that goal.”
Showing bipartisan support for the plan, Minority Leader Richard R. Tisei (R-Wakefield) said:
“I join with the Senate President and Chairman Baddour in recognizing that we need significant
reforms and a major overhaul of our transportation system. This is the first plan that fully
addresses the complicated financial and structural problems we are facing. More importantly, it
puts the taxpayers first by stressing a policy of reform before revenues.”
The Senate plan creates a quasi-public agency –the Massachusetts Surface Transportation
Authority (“MassTrans”) –to assume the duties and functions of the Massachusetts Turnpike
Authority, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and the Massachusetts Highway
Department with a mandate for enhanced accountability and transparency measures.
Additionally, MassTrans would absorb roadways and bridges currently managed by the
Department of Conservation and Recreation, and it would provide critical oversight and funding
for the Commonwealth’s regional transit authorities.

The new agency would also take over operations of the Tobin Bridge but leave intact the rest of
Massport, which receives no state money and operates aviation facilities and the Port of Boston.
“The idea is to streamline, eliminate redundancies between agencies, and make sense of the
current system,”President Murray said. “We think this plan does that.”
As a new, independent authority, MassTrans would be overseen by an 11-person board, chaired
by the Secretary of Transportation. An appointed CEO would run the daily operations of
MassTrans.
The organization would contain two divisions: Roads & Bridges, and Public Transit (which
would include the MBTA and RTAs). Each division would have its own advisory board
reporting to the MassTrans CEO.
Under the new agency, all transportation revenue would be pooled, with expenses and services –
such as accounting, information technology and human resources –being shared. Operational
and capital expenditures would also be accounted for separately to ensure accuracy and to end
the Commonwealth’s current practice of borrowing to pay employee salaries.
Another major component of the Senate plan would require new employees of existing agencies
–and MassTrans, once fully effective –to participate in the GIC and the Commonwealth’s
pension plan.
The Senate will propose to phase in the transition to the new agency over time, with the Western Turnpike, MassHighway and DCR roadways and bridges by July 1, 2009; the Metropolitan Highway System, Tobin Bridge and RTAs by July 1, 2010; and the MBTA by July 1, 2011. The plan also enables the Administration to explore the possibility of public-private partnerships to run certain transportation assets, which could include service plaza’s currently managed by the Turnpike as well as some roads, tunnels, bridges or other transportation assets.
“As the Senate has stressed all along, we need to look at all opportunities to reform the current
system and make the best decisions for the Commonwealth,” President Murray said. “Creating
the most efficient system must be our first priority.”
The Senate intends to file legislation by early February.
In April 2008, the Senate initiated a set of reforms to the current transportation system that
included the use of flagmen for roadway construction details and transparency measures
requiring MassHighway to report payments, processing times and other cash-flow activities.
Because everyone has a stake in the future of our transportation system, the Senate has created www.masstransfortomorrow.blogspot.com, a public forum where Massachusetts citizens can
offer their input and feedback.
###

The Senate plan certainly makes sense. Sen Baddour posted some comments over at Blue Mass Group, as well as his own blog. I have posted the Senate plan outline in addition to the prior mentioned transportation finance committee report. As a final note Baddour once again called on the Mass Pike Board to delay toll increases, calling them excessive.

Senators also called on the turnpike to freeze big toll increases, which could be up for a vote next week before the Mass Turnpike Authority Board.

“We believe that the increase that they’re talking about is much too high,” said Transportation Committee co-chair Sen. Steven Baddour. “We believe in the timeframe between now and when we pass a bill we have plenty of time to hold off and freeze those toll increases.”

The Senate will file a bill in February.

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