Treasurer Tim Cahill blasted Governor Deval Patrick (and Charlie Baker) on transportation funding today in a press release, and Patrick quickly fired back.
Here are the two releases:
Cahill Calls for Transportation Overhaul in Massachusetts
Says both Baker and Patrick have failed in stopping mismanagement
Massachusetts State Treasurer and candidate for Governor Tim Cahill today called for a dramatic overhaul of the Commonwealth’s broken transportation system, saying both political parties have failed abysmally in stopping waste and mismanagement.
“It would seem the Big Dig still has a place here in Massachusetts. Charlie Baker was the architect of a financing scheme for the Big Dig that avoided hard decisions in the 1990s by borrowing on the future,” Cahill said. “We see the sad, predictable results today, in every pothole, crumbling bridge, and hours-long backup. Governor Patrick has taken a few pages out of the Baker book by backing a $24 million design project for the MBTA Green Line expansion to Parsons Brinckerhoff, the Big Dig design company held responsible for sloppy work, cost overruns and the death of a woman in the I-90 tunnel in 2007. It is appalling that the Governor is turning to Parsons Brinckerhoff yet again for another Massachusetts transportation project knowing what he knows about this company and the damage it has caused. We need major change and a fiscally responsible approach that serves the Commonwealth today and in the future. As Governor, I would not initiate any transportation projects without first identifying a source of funding.”
As Administration and Finance Secretary, Baker created the Big Dig scheme to borrow $1.5 billion against future federal highway aid, even though he was presiding over a $1 billion surplus in the state budget. Patrick is using that same misguided borrowing scheme for transportation projects. The Governor is also borrowing nearly $1 billion over the next five years to pay the salaries of state transportation workers, an untenable practice that was used by past Republican administrations.
“Governor Patrick’s MASS-DOT reform has not changed how we finance transportation projects, and he has ignored the underlying problems of waste and mismanagement,” Cahill said. “We need to apply the same principles to transportation reform that we used when I reformed school construction as Treasurer, saving taxpayers $3 billion.”
Using the model of the Massachusetts School Building Authority, Cahill proposed the following:
-No new projects would be initiated without an identified source of funding.
-Waitlists would be grouped into roads, highways, bridges and rail.
-Waitlists would be rated and prioritized based on an analysis of need and urgency.
-Payments would be made as construction is completed and costs are incurred, not deferred to the future.
“At the School Building Authority, we never over promise and under deliver on any project that we work on with a district,” Cahill said. “The same philosophy must be applied to our transportation system, or we can expect the same broken roads and bloated deficits for the next four years.”
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STATEMENT FROM GOVERNOR DEVAL PATRICK RELATIVE TO INVESTING IN OUR
INFRASTRUCTURE
BOSTON – August 25, 2010
“It’s not clear from Tim Cahill’s proposal whether he believes in re-investing in our infrastructure or not. I believe we should and we must.
For the first time in state government, our administration has developed a 5-year capital plan, which prioritizes projects, analyzes affordability, and is transparent to taxpayers. That is the basis for an unprecedented level of re-investment in our public infrastructure, with all the jobs, economic growth and quality of life that have come with it, and is another reason why Massachusetts is coming out of recession faster and stronger than the rest of the country.
That is our responsibility to our time and the next generation. That is another difference between my view of the job and Tim’s.”
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Definitely agree with the Governor on this one.
