Charlie Baker, Massachusetts Legislature, Municipal Government, Taxes and Budget Issues, Transportation

SHARE

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

THREE DAYS AFTER saying he would file a multiyear local road funding bill, Gov. Charlie Baker submitted a one-year, $200 million borrowing bill that includes $50 million for a five-year small bridge program.

Get the Daily Download Our news roundup delivered every weekday.

Email *

With the state on track to hit its debt limit of $21.735 billion in fiscal 2017, the administration also proposed exempting bonds for the state’s Rail Enhancement Program from the state debt ceiling.

Local officials this week asked Baker to support a local road funding bill, known as Chapter 90, that extends multiple years at $300 million annually.

During his 2014 campaign, Baker said one of his first actions as governor would be to release $100 million in Chapter 90 money authorized by the Legislature but held back by the Patrick administration, which claimed there was not enough revenue to support the borrowing. The $100 million was released by the incoming Baker administration, padding $200 million that had been released in 2014.

The $200 million in 2016 Chapter 90 funds requested by Baker matches the funding level he sought in his 2015 Chapter 90 funding bill.

The governor seemed poised to file a multiyear road funding bill earlier in the week, and though the governor said local road funding would remain level for three years the bill he filed Friday was for one year.

“We made pretty clear in our filing letter that we’re going to file a $200 million bill every year for the next three years, and it’s my view that that’s something that cities and towns can count on,” Baker told reporters Friday when asked what had changed since Tuesday. The governor indicated his stated intention to annually file Chapter 90 bills of the same amount would satisfy the request for a multiyear bill.

Rep. William Straus, the House chairman of the Transportation Committee, said the governor chose the right amount of Chapter 90 money and agreed with his decision against filing a multiyear bill.

“I think the governor was right to only file a one-year bill,” Straus told the News Service. He said, “I think the 200 million number is realistic given the amount of money that is currently available…. People had hoped we could be at $300 million levels but at present the revenues that can be dedicated to transportation that are available aren’t what everyone had hoped for.”

Straus said if the bill is referred to his committee, as it has been historically, it is prepared to hold a hearing quickly.

Earlier in the week, Baker said he would file a multiyear bill.

“There doesn’t seem to be a lot of appetite in the Legislature to do Chapter 90 on a multi-year basis, but given the commentary we heard from the [Local Government Advisory Commission] folks we’ll file it as a multi-year and we’ll advocate for it,” Baker said Tuesday after meeting with local officials.

With the debt ceiling starting to come in to view, the governor’s Chapter 90 bill also exempts all borrowing for the Rail Enhancement Program from the state’s debt limit. Massachusetts had been on track to hit the $21.735 billion ceiling in Fiscal Year 2017 — the first time since the limit was established in 1989 that it would be reached.

Outstanding debt in the rail program totals $450 million, according to the Office of Administration and Finance. The bonds issued for the program are special obligation bonds backed by dedicated revenue from the gas tax and Registry of Motor Vehicle fees, the administration said.

The state cannot issue debt in excess of the statutory debt limit, and hitting that ceiling would prevent the state from issuing certain types of bonds to pay for large-scale capital projects, therefore slowing spending on things such as infrastructure improvements.

Administration and Finance and Treasury officials have pointed to the 2014 authorization of the Rail Enhancement Program — $1.86 billion in bonding through 2020 to finance the Green Line Extension project, the purchase of new Red and Orange Line trains, the Knowledge Corridor rail extension, South Station improvements, and the South Coast commuter rail extension — as a main reason the state is fast approaching its debt ceiling.

The Rail Enhancement Program, administration officials and the chairman of the House Bonding Committee Rep. Antonio Cabral said, was structured almost identically to the Accelerated Bridge Program but borrowing for the bridge program was not counted against the debt ceiling.

Baker, in a letter accompanying his bill, said the bill makes “technical corrections” to “make the Rail Enhancement Program consistent with the Accelerated Bridge Program, a similarly designed authorization with an identical provision.”

After the News Service reported in December that Massachusetts appeared likely to hit the debt ceiling, Baker said the issue “falls into the category of something we need to pay a lot of attention to and process with the rating agencies and the Legislature and others as we move forward.”

Braintree Mayor Joe Sullivan praised Baker’s overall attention to cities and towns and said the $200 million bill is “a good start.”

“In terms of the $200 million, we always wish it was more. We will continue to advocate,” Sullivan said. Sullivan said the early filing of the Chapter 90 bill – which had been delayed in recent years – helps prepare municipalities for the start of construction season.

Massachusetts Municipal Association Executive Director Geoff Beckwith said the Chapter 90 bill needs to be made law by April 1 for construction season to start on time and he said he would make the case to lawmakers that local governments need “at least $300 million” to maintain 30,000 miles of roads. Beckwith said he would also push for a multiyear bill.

Melrose Mayor Robert Dolan told the News Service he wanted to review the legislation but Baker’s move to release $100 million in road money right after he took office gave him a “track record” of helping cities and towns. Dolan said Melrose faces similar fiscal constraints to the state.

“I have 10 people that want their street redone and I can do two,” Dolan said.

The bill also includes $750 million for federal highway projects, and the Baker administration said the state would be responsible for $135 million of that spending.

The bridge funding will support about 1,300 bridges on local roads across spans between 10 and 20 feet, according to the administration.

Baker’s road-funding bill would also rework the state’s “complete streets” grant program that encourages roadways friendly to bikes, pedestrians, transit and freight. The bill would remove some specific statutory requirements and give the Massachusetts Department of Transportation the ability to adopt criteria.

Meet the Author Andy Metzger Reporter , CommonWealth magazine About Andy Metzger Andy Metzger joined CommonWealth Magazine as a reporter in January 2019. He has covered news in Massachusetts since 2007. For more than six years starting in May 2012 he wrote about state politics and government for the State House News Service. At the News Service, he followed three criminal trials from opening statements to verdicts, tracked bills through the flumes and eddies of the Legislature, and sounded out the governor’s point of view on a host of issues – from the proposed Olympics bid to federal politics. Before that, Metzger worked at the Chelmsford Independent, The Arlington Advocate, the Somerville Journal and the Cambridge Chronicle, weekly community newspapers that cover an array of local topics. Metzger graduated from UMass Boston in 2006. In addition to his written journalism, Metzger produced a work of illustrated journalism about Gov. Charlie Baker’s record regarding the MBTA. He lives in Somerville and commutes mainly by bicycle. About Andy Metzger Andy Metzger joined CommonWealth Magazine as a reporter in January 2019. He has covered news in Massachusetts since 2007. For more than six years starting in May 2012 he wrote about state politics and government for the State House News Service. At the News Service, he followed three criminal trials from opening statements to verdicts, tracked bills through the flumes and eddies of the Legislature, and sounded out the governor’s point of view on a host of issues – from the proposed Olympics bid to federal politics. Before that, Metzger worked at the Chelmsford Independent, The Arlington Advocate, the Somerville Journal and the Cambridge Chronicle, weekly community newspapers that cover an array of local topics. Metzger graduated from UMass Boston in 2006. In addition to his written journalism, Metzger produced a work of illustrated journalism about Gov. Charlie Baker’s record regarding the MBTA. He lives in Somerville and commutes mainly by bicycle.

The bill also makes reference to purchase of land in Needham along Route 128 for a buffer zone with the highway, as well as port improvements, which were included in an earlier bill.

Colin A. Young contributed reporting

SHARE