THE MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE late Monday night approved a $500 million transportation tax plan by a 97-55 margin, eight votes shy of being able to override Gov. Deval Patrick’s promised veto. But most observers on Beacon Hill were expecting the real fight over the size of the tax package to take place later this week in the Senate.
Several senators, speaking privately, said there is an unwillingness by several factions within the Senate to pass a tax plan crafted by House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate President Therese Murray and their leadership teams. These senators said the factions within the Senate reflect regional and philosophical concerns about the package, with some lawmakers concerned about the lack of funding for transportation initiatives outside Greater Boston and others feeling the package is either too small or too big.
“Right now the outcome is very hard to foresee,” one senator said. “All scenarios are in play.”
The legislative factions to some degree reflect the same differences that exist between Patrick, DeLeo, and Murray. Patrick proposed a $1.9 billion tax plan targeted at transportation and education as part of his budget for the coming fiscal year, but House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate President Therese Murray countered with a much narrower $500 million package. Patrick last week threatened to veto the DeLeo-Murray plan if it emerged from the Legislature.
The State House News Service reported that Patrick met with a group of about 18 to 20 House lawmakers in his office, including many who are sympathetic to his position, to remind them he is still willing to negotiate with DeLeo on a middle path on taxes. Patrick also dialed over 100 lawmakers over the weekend to press his case in phone calls described to the News Service by a person familiar with the calls as “temperature-taking” conversations.
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| People protesting fare increases for The Ride block Beacon Street. |
Outside the State House, a group of mostly elderly people protesting the doubling of fares for the door-to-door transit service called The Ride blocked Beacon Street for about a half hour. Four were handcuffed and arrested while those in wheelchairs were eventually wheeled off the street.
DeLeo, confident he has enough votes to pass his tax plan, began debate Monday afternoon. In an opening presentation, House Ways and Means Chairman Brian Dempsey held out an olive branch to those who may side with Patrick, though he was adamant that the administration’s $1.9 billion revenue plan is unsustainable as the economy continues to send weak signals.
“Most of us, if not many of us, have the same priorities that were outlined” in Patrick’s proposal, Dempsey told a nearly full chamber, though few were paying heed to his speech. “Where I respectfully disagree with the governor is how we get there and how quickly we get there.”
Dempsey said recent job numbers from the federal government are “some of the weakest” that officials have ever seen. He said Patrick’s proposal would add a $3,200 tax burden to a family of four with a $62,000 income. The joint legislative proposal, he insisted, would address the immediate needs of the state’s transportation system.
“All those things that we have to do, we can afford to do,” he said.
The House was taking up more than 100 amendments, though some were withdrawn before they were brought up for consideration. Most of the amendments were being defeated with ease or ruled out of order. The defeated amendments included measures giving the MBTA state aid to help pay off some Big Dig debt and banning any raid on the state’s trust fund from vehicle emissions test fees. Another defeated amendment would have delayed the bill for a year to allow for a study reviewing the impact of delays on projects not specifically funded in the House plan.
The Senate is scheduled to take up the tax plan on Thursday. Several senators said privately there was resentment that Senate President Murray tried to bind the Senate in a deal with DeLeo. They said they might push to expand the tax plan and then send it to conference with whatever emerges from the House.
The four Senate Republicans caucused late in the day to map their strategy. Their numbers may be small, but their impact could be large if they align with other opponents of the $500 million tax plan, even if those opponents want to defeat the package for different reasons.
Sen. Will Brownsberger posted a blog yesterday saying he would like to add to the plan a stream of additional dedicated transportation funds that would rise to roughly $500 million per year over the next 10 years.
“A decision to raise taxes is never easy, especially in difficult times, but I believe that unless we raise more revenue and dedicate that revenue to transportation, we will not make enough progress to reduce the deep backlog of necessary maintenance in the transportation system,” Brownsberger said in his post.
