BOB SALSBERG, Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) — Gov. Charlie Baker planned to seek a nearly $65 million increase in state subsidies for the Boston-area’s beleaguered public transit system, but House leaders said Tuesday they were skeptical about providing more money to the MBTA until a complete review of recent weather-related breakdowns was completed.
An administration spokesman said the funding boost would be included in the state budget the Republican governor was scheduled to submit to the Legislature on Wednesday. It would bring the total direct state subsidy to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to $187 million.
The MBTA also receives other revenues from the state, notably 20 percent of the state’s sales tax proceeds.
A series of major storms that dropped more than 100 inches of snow on Boston this winter overwhelmed the aging transit network leading to delays, cancellations, station closings and even periodic shutdowns of the entire system.
Democratic House Speaker Robert DeLeo indicated he would prefer to hold off on additional funding for the MBTA until it is determined whether the agency has its own financial and management house in order. He noted that Baker recently named a special commission to review the root causes of the T’s failures and said he might call for hearings by the House.
“Giving the T more money right now is kind of crazy,” House Majority Leader Ronald Mariano, a Quincy Democrat, told reporters. “I think that they have to begin to demonstrate that they can use that money efficiently and judiciously.”
In an address to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, DeLeo also called for steps to rein in runaway Medicaid costs. He said the budget for MassHealth, the state’s Medicaid program, has grown nearly 50 percent in the five years and that such increases are unsustainable.
“It’s becoming clearer and clearer that we must work to reverse the trend of MassHealth consuming an increasingly greater percentage of the state budget, year after year,” DeLeo told the gathering of business leaders.
The House would form a special commission to examine how the state can help Medicaid managed care organizations, which he said have been sustaining significant financial losses in recent years.
Baker has also expressed concern over soaring Medicaid costs and is expected to further address the issue in his proposed budget for the next fiscal year starting July 1.
The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a budget watchdog group, has said the state could face a $1.5 billion gap between projected revenues and spending levels that would be required to maintain current program levels.
Both Baker and DeLeo have ruled out tax increases in the next budget.
The governor has called for a doubling of the earned income tax credit for low-income working families and also wants to eliminate the state’s 25 percent tax credit that aims to encourage filmmaking in Massachusetts. Critics of the tax credit say it largely helps out-of-state production companies, but supporters say movie production is also a boost for many local small businesses.
