Gov. Healey nixes idea to add tolls at Mass. state borders

Gov. Maura Healey has joined a chorus of voices pushing back against an idea floated by the secretary for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation about adding tolls at the state's borders.

MassDOT Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt was giving a keynote speech at a WalkMassachusetts gathering on April 10 when she talked about the need to get "aggressive" to have enough money for safe transportation in the Bay State. She shared with the advocacy group audience that a funding task force has been created to look at new ways to generate revenue - including tolls at the borders.

But Healey says those comments do not reflect the view of the administration.

"To be clear, I am not proposing tolls at any border," the governor said in a statement.

She added that she spoke with Tibbits-Nutt about the issue and remains confident in the secretary's leadership.

"Our top priorities are making Massachusetts a more affordable place and bringing people together to get things done. It is why we were proud to partner with the Legislature to pass a billion dollars in tax cuts. The Healey-Driscoll administration is committed to collaborating with the Legislature and all stakeholders to make Massachusetts a more affordable, competitive place," Healey said.

The comments come after other leaders, including New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, ripped the secretary for the comments, pointing out that it's another way to make the state less affordable.

“Looks like Massachusetts has found yet another way to unnecessarily take your money," the Republican governor said in a statement over the weekend. "All the more reason for more Massachusetts residents to make the permanent move to New Hampshire. The Live Free or Die state continues to be the place to be.”

Tibbits-Nutt's ideas were also not embraced by people like Massachusetts state auditor Diana DiZoglio.

"Merrimack Valley kid here. Putting a toll at the NH border would have DEVASTATING impacts on our region, not just economically speaking, but also regarding the unmanageable congestion & infrastructural burden it would create on every local backroad," DiZoglio wrote on social media. "Creating a border war is not the answer and it’s definitely families within Massachusetts who would ultimately be hurt by this move — border communities count. I strongly urge the administration to reject this approach."

The nonprofit Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance condemned Tibbits-Nutt for her "unsettling" and "insensitive" comments, calling them "simply reprehensible."

"She describes her targets that will affect ordinary people, like people who commute from border states, people who get packages delivered, people who take Uber and Lyft rides, and even people who pay payroll taxes. Decisions to raise taxes, fees, or adding tolling should be made by our elected legislature, not announced by an overzealous, unelected bureaucrat before a special interest advocacy organization," Paul Diego Craney, a spokesperson for MassFiscal, said in a statement posted online. “It’s frightening to think an official so high up in the Healey administration is bragging to a special interest advocacy group about the economic pain she wants to inflict on the very people who she’s supposed to work for. Remarks like this have no place in state government. Secretary Tibbits should be dismissed from her position in state government, as she’s clearly demonstrated she does not have the best interests of all the residents of Massachusetts at heart."

Tibbits-Nutt's comments about tolling and raising transportation revenue -- as well as remarks she made about "100 percent passing judgement" on people who drive large trucks or SUVs -- drew the ire of the Republican Party, which called the secretary's speech "an abhorrent display of bad policy, and showed blatant disrespect for Massachusetts residents." Other conservative groups have called for Tibbits-Nutt to be fired.

But not everyone cast judgment so quickly. Asked about the idea of border tolls Monday, Senate President Karen Spilka said she would be open to considering the idea. Spilka represents a district that lies along the tolled Massachusetts Turnpike and for years has highlighted the fact that people in her part of the state have to pay tolls far more often than people who live along untolled highways, like Interstates 93 or 95.

"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 tolls 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."

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.

Earlier 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. She added, "And now you have a bunch of people who have never worked in government ... there's literally no way we're gonna vest. You're not like having to worry about us staying around just to get a pension. I will not make it that long, I just won't. But it does mean I get to have the really hard conversations."