State transportation funding task force to miss end-of-year deadline
Photo | Courtesy of Chris Lisinski, State House News Service
Gov. Maura Healey (right) and Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt (left) walk through the MBTA gates at North Station ahead of a press conference on Feb. 12.
The wait for a task force report on tackling the transportation funding challenges will continue into 2025.
Gov. Maura Healey gave a panel she created via executive order a Dec. 31, 2024 deadline to submit recommendations for a "long-term, sustainable transportation finance plan" across all modes, but an administration spokesperson said Monday that the panel is still finishing its work.
Matt Murphy, a spokesperson for the Executive Office for Administration and Finance, said the group is "finalizing" its report and needs "a little bit longer" before submitting it to the governor.
The panel does not need to seek an official extension, he said, because the deadline was outlined in Healey's Jan. 24 executive order and not in state law.
Some reports have suggested task force members -- who stretch across a range of professional backgrounds and industry interests -- have been split over how far their recommendations to the governor should go.
Transportation funding has long been a contentious topic in Massachusetts, especially with many roads and bridges in need of costly repairs and MBTA problems regularly in the spotlight.
The topic is poised for even more attention in 2025 as the T looks to market service improvements while also facing a roughly $700 million budget gap that could prompt service cuts without additional state aid.
The state secured a big new funding source in 2022 when voters approved a constitutional amendment adding a surtax on wealthier households with new revenues available only for transportation and education.
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