Deal may bring end to Turnpike agency
Legislative leaders agree on overhaul
By Noah Bierman and Matt Viser, Globe Staff | June 18, 2009
Top state lawmakers agreed last night on a sweeping transportation overhaul that includes elimination of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, an agency that has long been a symbol of bloat and inefficiency.
The extensive plan, reached after weeks of closed-door negotiating, is expected to be voted on today by the House and Senate, giving rank-and-file lawmakers only hours to review complex legislation that their leaders have labeled historic.
A key provision of the bill would dramatically scale back the benefits given to MBTA employees, considered some of the most generous in the country, for an estimated savings of at least $30 million a year.
?I think this is serious reform and some real cost savings in the healthcare,?? said Michael J. Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, who had been critical of the Legislature?s earlier attempts at an overhaul.
The transportation compromise does not, however, provide new revenue for the state?s ailing transportation agencies or immediately negate the need for increases in Turnpike tolls or fares on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Whether it will be necessary to raise tolls or fares, and by how much, will be dictated in large part by the state budget.
Another unanswered question is whether this legislation, expected to pass overwhelmingly, will be signed by Governor Deval Patrick, who has been critical of previous attempts to overhaul the transportation system.
Patrick declined last night to endorse the legislation or to comment on the proposal. That stood in stark contrast to pension law changes approved last week, which he heartily endorsed as he stood with legislative leaders.
?We appreciate the movement on this critical piece of the governor?s reform agenda,?? Kyle Sullivan, a spokesman for Patrick, said in a statement last night. ?We look forward to analyzing it to determine whether it meets the long-term needs and interests of the Commonwealth. We will have no further comment until we have fully reviewed the conference report.??
Patrick had proposed a 19-cent-a-gallon increase in the state?s gasoline tax to help the agencies, while the House and Senate have earmarked a portion of a sales tax hike to use for transportation needs. Patrick has vowed to veto the Legislature?s proposed sales tax increase, from 5 percent to 6.25 percent, unless lawmakers first approve reforms that he finds acceptable.
In addition to pension and transportation proposals, lawmakers are trying to hammer out a final deal on an ethics law overhaul. That deal may come as early as today, and House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo said yesterday he hoped to send ethics legislation, as well as the state budget, to the governor?s desk by tomorrow.
Restructuring the state?s complex transportation system has been a priority on Beacon Hill for years, but took on added importance last year as the agencies that run roads, rail, and bridges teetered on the edge of insolvency under the weight of Big Dig debt.
The decay of state roads and transit routes, meanwhile, continued amid predictions that they would become exponentially more expensive to fix in coming decades.
The overhaul ironed out last night will not do away with toll roads or the Turnpike Authority?s $2 billion debt. But the authority will no longer exist in its current form on Jan. 1 if the bill becomes law. All state roads and bridges, now overseen by a variety of agencies and authorities, would be overseen by a new authority, as would the MBTA, to some extent.
By centralizing the state?s transportation system, lawmakers are hoping to be able to make more coherent policy decisions about when to raise tolls and transit fares and how to invest in train cars and bridge repairs. Under the current system, toll roads are run by two agencies, and state bridges are maintained by at least four, with oversight shared between the governor and a collection of appointed boards.
House and Senate leaders were not available for an interview after the bill was filed last night.
?This is a landmark occasion for the Commonwealth,?? Senate President Therese Murray said in a prepared statement. The state, she said, ?has never seen such a dramatic restructuring of its transportation system.??
DeLeo said that the bill ?eliminates the antiquated and inefficient transportation structure in Massachusetts.??
Lawmakers say they are eliminating enough duplication and worker benefits in their plan to save up to $6.5 billion over the next two decades. But some observers, including Widmer, have warned that savings may be overstated, given the costs of merging the agencies and the lack of specific job cuts outlined in the plans.
The biggest potential savings, trimming healthcare costs for MBTA workers, was among the most contentious issues. The MBTA?s largest union was so concerned about the loss of benefits it hired former Senate president Robert Travaglini to lobby on its behalf.
But in the end, transit workers and retirees will begin paying more for their healthcare costs, through a phased-in approach that begins Jan. 1, if the bill becomes law.
Future T workers would also lose the famous ?23 and out?? provision that allows workers to retire with a substantial pension after 23 years of service, sometimes in their early 40s, meaning that some retirees could collect pensions as retirees longer than they collected regular salaries as employees. The new rules require workers to put in 25 years and reach age 55 before pensions kick in.
The new transportation system, simply titled the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, would be governed by a five-member board appointed by the governor. The authority would set policy for the secretary of transportation, who would serve as its chief executive officer but be appointed directly by the governor.
The board would control four divisions: the Registry of Motor Vehicles; the Highway Department, which would include the Tobin Bridge, the turnpike, the Big Dig, and other state highways and parkways; Mass Transit, which would include the MBTA and regional transit authorities; and Aeronautics, which would control municipal airports.
The Massachusetts Port Authority would remain independent and would maintain control of Logan International Airport and the seaport. It would lose authority over the Tobin Bridge, a tolled span that is one of the state?s few transportation assets that turns a profit.
The MBTA, though under the new master board, would retain some independence, including its own general manager, budget, and borrowing authority.
But the bill eliminates the T?s separate governing board, which is now responsible for setting fares and approving contracts.
Noah Bierman can be reached at
nbierman@globe.com.
