Gov. Patrick slams breaks on toll hikes

(Report 3-20-09)

For now, toll hikes delayed

by DNN Staff
DNN Reports!
Friday, Mar. 20, 2009

Gov. Deval Patrick reversed course and asked the board of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, which he controls, to delay a pair of toll hikes slated to take effect this year.

Patrick, Senate President Therese Murray and House Speaker Robert DeLeo, in a rare joint statement, asked the authority to instead dip into a $54 million reserve fund to tide it over until the Legislature can act on a sweeping transportation overhaul.

The delay risks a downgrade in the Pike’s bond rating, potentially increasing its interest costs, but Murray pledged to debate her own overhaul legislation next week, and DeLeo said his chamber would debate the matter the following week.

The leaders have yet to agree on whether the state will increase its gasoline tax, though Patrick said there was consensus on the need for “new revenue.” Patrick has proposed a 19-cent gas tax hike, generating legislative opposition.

“There are costs and risks associated with that postponement, but we believe that those costs and risks are worth it because of the genuine prospect of a long-term solution,” Patrick told reporters.

They said their goal is to enact the resulting bill by July 1.

Mary Connaughton, the only Turnpike board member to vote last month against the toll increase, said she was surprised by the change in approach. At the time, the board’s chairman, Transportation Secretary James Aloisi, and fellow member Michael Angelini said the increase was needed to preserve the authority’s bond rating.

The governor has appointed a majority of the five-member board, and it approved the increase by a 4-1 vote.

“It was the governor’s team that supported this massive toll hike, and this is a step in the opposite direction,” Connaughton said. “The governor realized that the politics of such an enormous toll hike would not play out well for him.”