Promising a “new era” for transportation in Massachusetts, Gov. Maura Healey unveiled a massive plan Tuesday to stabilize the MBTA’s troubled finances and supercharge other transportation investments with surtax funds and billions of dollars in borrowing.
Healey rolled out a multi-pronged proposal that stretches across at least three different pieces of legislation, combining new spending and bond authorizations into a package that could total $8 billion over the next decade.
Two days ahead of her annual State of the Commonwealth address, Healey pitched the plan as a way to put state transportation system finances on a steady course in the short term while setting the stage for major transformations further down the line.
Her proposal relies almost entirely on using a larger share of the 4% income surtax on high earners, which voters approved the same day they elected Healey in 2022. It eschews other revenue-generating taxes and fees at a time when Beacon Hill has been trying to focus on ways to address growing affordability concerns.
“We have worked together as a team to put Massachusetts on a path to a kick-ass transportation system that is going to serve every resident, every employer, every sector of our state,” Healey said at Worcester’s Union Station, flanked by deputies and members of a transportation funding task force whose recommendations colored her plans. “It’s going to lead to unparalleled economic growth and prosperity and opportunity. It’s going to help decarbonize and address our climate challenges by getting more people off the road.”
Healey rolled out her proposal for new funding injections over the next decade alongside the public release of a 116-page task force report, developed over the past 11 months by a group the governor convened to craft recommendations for a “long-term, sustainable transportation finance plan.”
While the group analyzed several ideas for new sources of transportation dollars, it…