Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits Nutt, who appeared here with Gov. Maura Healey in early February, told revenue lawmakers that MassDOT and the MBTA have the funding they need. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)
Lawmakers on the Joint Committee on Ways and Means seemed surprised to hear from the state's top transportation official that the state doesn't need more funding than it plans to receive from the governor's $58.1 billion 2025 spending plan.
According to the Healey administration, the proposed budget includes $3 billion for “all means of movement of people and goods in Massachusetts (train, bus, subway, bicycle, automobile, commuter rail, ferry, airplane, or pedestrian).” It includes dollars.
But the billions brought in by the state's new so-called millionaire tax, which taxes income over $1 million at a rate of 4%, will be split evenly between two areas of the budget for which the tax was intended. There are no plans to do so. Strengthen.
A new amendment to the Bay State's constitution, also known as the Fair Share Amendment, was designed to encourage the very wealthy to help fund transportation initiatives and education improvements. Gov. Maura Healey's 2025 spending plan clearly accomplishes this, spending about 20% more on education than on the state's beleaguered transportation system.
During an on-site hearing Tuesday at Bristol County Agricultural High School, Somerville state Rep. Patricia Haddad made a similar point to Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbitsnutt, who said there was no problem with disparities in spending. He seemed surprised to hear that he was thinking about it.
“We have everything we need,” he said, explaining that the differences were only made in consultation with Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler.
The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, a nonpartisan fiscal watchdog group, appears to think otherwise, in a summary budget analysis released ahead of the hearing.
“The FY 2024 House and Senate budgets followed the MTF recommendation to allocate surtax spending evenly between transportation and education. The final budget changed the allocation slightly, with education at 52 percent. “Governor Healey's budget sees a further shift toward dedicating nearly 60 percent of resources to education. This shift is problematic,” they wrote.
Part of the problem is that, according to the MTF, the current MBTA spending plan will deplete the transit system's emergency funds just to make ends meet in 2025, while “significantly reducing public transit Further problems are looming in the form of “shortages.” Both the operating budget and the capital transportation budget are expected as early as fiscal year 2026. ”
“It makes no sense for the MBTA to exhaust all reserves to complete the fiscal year 2025 budget, leaving the authority with little financial flexibility,” MTF wrote. “If expenditures increase due to rising labor and maintenance costs, or revenues decrease, or both, the MBTA may use a portion of federal matching funds for operations rather than significant capital costs, etc. We will be forced to pursue more aggressive financing alternatives.”
Joint revenue hearings like the one held Tuesday are a step in the budget process, but not the end. Lawmakers plan to hold several more hearings before releasing the House appropriations budget later this year.