Healey Plans To Stabilize T With Budget Plan

She did not offer many details about the action her administration will take, but suggested the topic could get significant attention in the state budget process, which she will kick off by filing a proposal that's due Jan. 22.

"A huge fiscal cliff is out there," Healey said about the MBTA during an interview on GBH News's "Boston Public Radio." "I think we've got in our budget an opportunity for immediate stabilization of that over the next few years, but I also know we need to think about what are the ways to support the financing that we need to build the world class public transit operation we deserve."

The MBTA drained its reserves to balance its fiscal year 2025 budget, and officials project the agency will face a roughly $700 million gap in the next fiscal year that begins July 1. Without additional funding, the T could be pressed into service cuts or staff reductions that might imperil recent improvements.

Healey last year issued an executive order creating a task force charged with recommending strategies for a "long-term, sustainable transportation finance plan." The group faced a Dec. 31, 2024 deadline, but needed a bit more time to finish its work and convened its final meeting Tuesday afternoon.

The governor and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll planned to attend the meeting. Healey said Tuesday she expected to be "briefed by members of the task force."

"I look forward to hearing what they have to say today, and then after that, quickly implementing that," Healey said on "Boston Public Radio."

"Transportation infrastructure funding -- it's something people have kicked the can on for decades in this state. I'm two years into this, but I've learned that people have kicked the can on a lot -- unmet housing needs, the really tough state of the T when I took office, and financing of necessary transportation infrastructure," she added. "The philosophy that [Lt. Gov.] Kim Driscoll and I have is that as long as we're here, we're not about kicking the can. That brings us into some controversy. It brings us into some debate on stuff."

Healey sidestepped a question about congestion pricing, an idea that has failed to gain traction with Massachusetts lawmakers. After some upheaval, New York City this week implemented higher tolls on vehicles entering Manhattan's Central Business District at certain hours to disincentivize driving and generate more money for other transportation needs.

"I've got to talk to [New York] Governor [Kathy] Hochul about that. I want to see how things are going in New York," Healey said when asked if she was a fan of congestion pricing.

One relatively new and lucrative option for transportation funding is already on the books in Massachusetts: a voter-approved surtax on high earners.

That levy generated more than $2.4 billion in fiscal year 2024, and all of its revenue must be directed to either transportation or education investments. State budget-writers factored a far more conservative estimate into their spending plan that year, and Beacon Hill now has about $1.32 billion in excess surtax revenue to spend on top of future collections.

Commonwealth Beacon reported Monday that the task force is eyeing changes to the surtax split, specifically an even division of revenue between transportation and education spending, as its primary recommendation.

"Boston Public Radio" host Jim Braude hinted at that possibility in a question he posed to Healey.

"So you're assuring people that this task force is not going to continue the can-kicking? Because some reports are saying no recommendations, just going to fall back on the excess from the millionaires tax, the billion dollars that's lying there, and no real long-term plan to deal with the finances," Braude said.

"Well, I'm going to see what the task force has to say," Healey replied. "I know that I've asked them to focus on: what are the foundational things that we need to do? It's like a burning building or it's like a crumbling foundation, right? There's certain things that you need to do, folks."

In October, House budget chief Aaron Michlewitz of Boston, a key figure in state spending decisions, said he's interested in directing most or all of the surplus surtax dollars toward transportation needs.

"Since the majority of the funds from the fair share has been spent on education, it's only right that the majority of the surplus funds available to us now go to supporting transportation, particularly capital investments, the MBTA and other public transit needs," he said at the time.

Michlewitz added: "We just did a record amount for the FY 25 budget to going to the MBTA. So I mean, while I'm sure other people have ideas, this is certainly one that a lot of members on the House side care about, and would like to -- especially with the idea that we have a general manager that we trust, we think is doing the right thing, on the right track, really is, taking care of some of the challenges that we've been facing with the MBTA, we really have someone who's actually really managing it in a much more productive way. So now's the time to press a little bit from a financial standpoint."

Healey pointed out the significant work under MBTA General Manager Phil Eng to eliminate slow zones over the past year, touting that success as proof that her administration can achieve needed financial reforms as well.

"Similarly with transportation, it seems to me shoring up and stabilizing the immediate needs and the immediate bleeding there so there's stability in that is absolutely imperative," Healey said. "Whatever the task force recommendations are, it's not going to end with the task force."

The T last increased fares in 2019, before the pandemic rewired travel patterns and depleted ridership.

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01/07/2025