transportation.mp3

After a year of battling over a transportation plan, the state legislature finally got a bill to the Gov. Deval Patrick's desk and now Patrick wants to start the battle over again.

At a press conference, Patrick said he could not accept the bill in the current form.

"We have neglected our roads, bridges, subways, trolleys, commuter trans and buses for a long time and everybody knows it," he said. "Most people agree that we need over a billion a year in new funding just to bring our system up to par. Even so, I have said that I would accept $800 million a year as a big step forward so long as that number is real. This bill doesn’t yet achieve it."

Some of the funding promised in the bill would come from tolls on the western part of the Massachusetts Turnpike, but that money could disappear in a few years. Tolls west of I-95 are scheduled to be eliminated as of January 1, 2017. The Patrick administration estimates the loss to the state’s transportation system would be $130 million.

Patrick has filed an amendment to the bill that says that if and when the tolls come down, the gas tax will go up to make up the difference.

“Now there are an awful lot of people in and out of this building who want me to wink and nod and act like an it's $800 million dollar bill," Patrick said. "It’s not. And it can be.”

The governor hadn’t even finished talking to reporters when House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate President Therese Murray released a joint statement dismissing Patrick’s proposal as an unnecessary burden on taxpayers. DeLeo also held an impromptu press conference outside his office.

"I feel very strongly the numbers we have are real," DeLeo said. "Let’s get this job done. Let’s get our transportation system fixed. The money’ there. Let’s go forward."

Legislative leaders say they will ask their chambers to reject Patrick’s amendment, setting up the possibility Patrick could veto the bill and that lawmakers could try to override his veto.