TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY Monica Tibbits-Nutt’s push for border tolls didn’t gain traction with her boss, Gov. Maura Healey, but Senate President Karen Spilka is intrigued by the idea.
“I live in Metro West where we have had tolls for many, many years to pay for a project that not many of my constituents actually use on a day to day basis. I believe that — and I’ve said this publicly — if tolls are such a great idea for the Turnpike, we should look at them for funding for other areas of the state. I have filed, in the past, bills to put tolls at the border. So I do believe that we need to be creative about our funding. And I do believe that it needs to be fair, because I believe the toll system right now is not fair at all,” Spilka told reporters Monday after speaking to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. “So I would certainly be willing to have discussions about creative and fair ways to raise revenues for our many infrastructure needs.”
Almost exactly five years ago, in her remarks to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, Spilka told business leaders that the state needed to start thinking about putting tolls like those on the Turnpike along other roadways.
“Simply put, and I put this out there, if tolls are a good idea for my district, my region, I believe we should explore the possibility of expanded tolling, including possibly at our borders,” Spilka said in April 2019. “Our best ideas won’t matter if we can’t find a way to make a 21st century transportation infrastructure a reality — and find a way to pay for it.”
In a statement released Monday, Healey said she did not share her secretary’s enthusiasm for adding tolls at Massachusetts borders, though she voiced support for the embattled transportation secretary.
“The Secretary’s comments do not represent the views of this administration, and to be clear, I am not proposing tolls at any border,” Healey said. “I have spoken to the Secretary and made that clear, and that I have confidence in her leadership moving forward in this important time as we work to ensure a strong and robust state transportation system.”
Transportation financing has been studied for years in and around state government and the new effort Healey launched this year will add another chapter to the research, but again with no assurance that it will lead to actual improvements. Tibbits-Nutt chairs the task force, with Administration and Finance Secretary Matthew Gorzkowicz as vice chair.
The group is asked over the next year to recommend a long-term plan for making — and paying for — investments in transportation infrastructure all around Massachusetts. Healey has neither embraced nor ruled out the idea of pursuing tax or fee increases to generate more money for the transportation sector, a subject that always induces strong debate on Beacon Hill.
In her remarks to Walk Massachusetts, Tibbits-Nutt made clear that she plans to use her time as transportation secretary to try to break through some of the red tape and inertia that has stalled significant changes for years, and said she would not hold back when speaking her mind.
“I’ve never gotten to work in the government before, this is kind of like my first shot at this. And the thing I always said is I will not spend one day trying to keep my job. I just won’t. Because otherwise it makes it very, very hard to actually do the job correctly. Because you’re gonna make tons of enemies, you’re going to have to say things that people don’t want to hear because it’s either going to make them feel really bad, or it is going to put them in a position where they have absolutely no choice but to now do something with what you just said,” Tibbits-Nutt said.