Friday, March 20, 2015
Gov on the T Day
Yesterday, I joined with several of my colleagues in the legislature to take an hour long commute from West Gloucester Station to North Station in Boston on the commuter rail to experience firsthand the issues so many commuters face every day. It provided me with an excellent opportunity to speak directly with riders from our region about the frustrations they felt during this past winter’s historic snowfall totals, which caused major delays and cancellations.
During my commute in, I also had the
opportunity to also share the details of bill that the Senate Republican Caucus
filed last month that would provide the MBTA and commuter rail service vital
tools to assist the agency in achieving financial stability. The
bipartisan, bicameral bill creates a fiscal recovery trust fund, requires the
Secretary of Administration and Finance to identify funds to assist the MBTA,
and creates a new seven member MBTA finance control board that could ultimately
be dissolved in favor of a receiver that would take over the board’s
responsibilities as a last resort if sufficient progress hadn’t been made.
The responsibilities of the MBTA
finance control board/receiver include:
•
Securing financial and performance stability of the MBTA;
•
Implementing fiscal controls;
•
Implementing uniform budget and planning guidelines and procedures for all
departments;
•
Levying fines on vendors who fail to maintain on-time rates, vehicle
cleanliness, fare collections, station maintenance, and staff training;
•
Executing capital budgets and borrowing authorizations to finance or refinance
any debt;
•
Maintaining authority to appoint, remove, supervise, and control all MBTA
employees and personnel matters;
•
Developing a long range plan for MBTA financial and structural sustainability;
and
•
Requiring the filing of a quarterly report to the House and Senate Committees
on Ways and Means detailing how any expended loan funds were used in the past
quarter.
With me in the pictures posted is Senator Joan Lovely of Salem and Representative Ted Speliotis of Danvers. To read a report in today’s Gloucester Daily Times regarding Gov on the T day, please click here.