Related: It Truly is Taxachusetts!
"New political players shift transit debate" by Noah Bierman | February 1, 2009
.... Forget everything you might have known a few weeks ago.
December's political calculations are now about as relevant as your MC Hammer Fan Club membership. Two of the major political players framing the transportation debate have departed, just as the real work was about to begin....
Both of those changes in leadership could have a big effect on how much it costs you to drive in Massachusetts - on tolled or free roads - or to take the T. And they could make a difference in whether the T has the money to keep the system running on time and whether there are more potholes on the roads....
One day, they're selling Massachusetts Turnpike exits to raise cash. Another, they are adding fees for toll payers who use Fast Lane passes to pay turnpike tolls, while eliminating the old fee for transponders. Then, they hedge on previously announced toll increases and float the idea of adding new tolls on state borders, something they previously disavowed....
House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo will be key to whatever agreement Beacon Hill reaches. But he is still in his first week on the job and has not committed to raising the gasoline tax, a prominent alternative to major toll increases, or anything else.
"Whether it's a toll issue, whether it's a gas tax issue - those all have to be on the table," DeLeo said Thursday in an interview with Globe State House reporters Matthew Viser and Andrea Estes. "The days [are over] of saying that no, we can't have tolls, we can't have gas tax, we can't have either."
He said he was meeting with lawmakers to try and develop consensus and that it was possible to come to a mix of gas tax increases and toll hikes....
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