Lawmakers OK transportation fix

BOSTON – While state legislators approved a transportation reform package by a wide margin Thursday, several local lawmakers are split on the issue.House members approved the measure that overhauls the state’s road, bridge and commuter systems, 130-25, hours after senators approved the same bill by a 27-11 vote.The bill sidesteps an immediate increase in Turnpike tolls, MBTA fares and the state’s gasoline tax and calls for a 25-percent increase in the sales tax.The measure now goes to Gov. Deval Patrick, who can sign it or seek amendments.Under the proposal, the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority would be abolished as of Jan. 1. The Massachusetts Port Authority and Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority would remain intact, but nearly all other state transportation functions would be consolidated under a new Massachusetts Department of Transportation.House lawmakers with ties to Greater Lynn communities who voted for the bill: Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, D-Winthrop; Lori A. Ehrlich, D-Marblehead; Bradley H. Jones Jr., R-North Reading; John D. Keenan, D-Salem; Kathi-Anne Reinstein, D-Revere; Theodore C. Speliotis, D-Danvers and Joyce A. Spiliotis, D-Peabody. Local House members who opposed the bill: Mark V. Falzone, D-Saugus; Robert F. Fennell, D-Lynn and Steven M. Walsh, D-Lynn.Members of the state Senate with ties to Greater Lynn communities who voted yes: Frederick E. Berry, D-Peabody; Anthony Petruccelli, D-Boston and Richard R. Tisei, R-Wakefield. Senate members who opposed the bill: Anthony D. Galluccio, D-Cambridge and Thomas M. McGee, D-Lynn”I voted against the bill because the reality of this legislation is that all toll revenues will be applied to existing toll road debt which includes the cost of the Big Dig,” McGee said.”Commuters on the North Shore are still being asked to pay for the Big Dig. While there are some very good aspects of the bill it did not go far enough in terms of relieving the North Shore of the impact of tolls. It is unfair for North Shore commuters to pay for the Big Dig. The cost of it needs to be fairly distributed across the state and in particular to those who use the roadways north and south who have not had to bear any burden of the Big Dig cost.”Ehrlich said prior to the House vote Thursday that the bill represents real transportation reform.”Clearly the many voices from the North Shore calling for toll fairness and equity were heard,” she said. “This is a great moment for all citizens and especially the long-suffering toll payers of the commonwealth,” she said. “This bill is a declaration that fairness and equity are bedrock principles supporting our transportation system. This bill reaffirms a simple constitutional principle that toll money should be spent on tolled roads and not on something else.”Fare and toll hikes would be staved off by increasing the sales tax from 5 percent to 6.25 percent.”Since November, when all we were hearing about was a gas tax, the Senate has insisted that we cannot simply throw new revenue into a broken transportation system ? we need to reform the system first,” Senate President Therese Murray said Wednesday night. “Now, along with the House, we have delivered on the promise of Reform before Revenue. This is a landmark occasion for the commonwealth, which has never seen such a dramatic restructuring of its transportation system. We will all benefit from this major reform for decades to come.”DeLeo said, “This bill eliminates the antiquated and inefficient transportation structure in Massachusetts. It also brings considerable cost-savings. In a very short time, we have delivered on our promise to reform our transportation and pension systems, and I look forward to further action on ethics reform and the budget soon.”Massport would be tweaked by shifting its Mystic Tobin Bridge to the new department as of Nov. 1, while lucrative perks at the MBTA would also be scaled back. The transit agency’s employees and retirees would be forced into the state’s group insu