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Boston's Morning Newsletter
What happens if the gas tax dries up? Mass. task force to look at new funding measures
Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from WBUR's daily morning newsletter, WBUR Today. If you like what you read and want it in your inbox, sign up here.
We’re rounding out the week on a damp note, though this afternoon is your best chance to get outside for some relatively warm and dry weather. (Keep an eye on Sunday’s forecast for the possibility of shovel-worthy snow.) But first, let’s get to the news:
Finding future funding: The Massachusetts gas tax provides a big chunk of revenue for the state’s transportation infrastructure, from roads to the MBTA. So, what are we going to do if and when it dries up? Gov. Maura Healey wants to have some firm ideas on her desk by the end of the year. While announcing her new budget proposal yesterday, Healey announced that she signed an executive order to create a “Transportation Financing Task Force.” The group, which will include the state’s top transportation and economic leaders, is expected to work on a long-term plan for funding the state’s transportation systems.
- Why now? Massachusetts will require all new cars sold locally to be electric starting in 2035, and the state is already offering residents financial incentives to make the switch. But that transition means less people will stop at gas stations and pay the 24-cent-a-gallon tax. Meanwhile, the rise of remote work is chipping away at both the gas tax and MBTA fare revenue. T leaders have not-so-subtly hinted they need new dedicated state funding streams to climb out of their financial hole and repair the system after years of neglect.
- What Healey’s saying: “We need a plan for a sustainable, equitable transportation funding financing mechanism in Massachusetts. And after years — as I’ve said before — of seeing that can kicked down the road, we’re taking action to deliver.”
- What are the alternatives? In recent years, Democrats in the State House tried to pilot a few ideas, including a tax on “vehicle miles traveled” and different forms of congestion pricing. Both were vetoed by former Republican Gov. Charlie Baker.
- Where does Healey stand? Her office isn’t saying much about her stance on the possible alternatives, but we should get a better idea by the end of the year, when the task force’s report is due.
Not so fast: Massachusetts’ largest health insurer, Blue Cross Blue Shield, will stop enforcing its new policy to restrict the use of anesthesia during colonoscopies, following backlash from doctors.
- What was the issue? As WBUR’s Priyanka Dayal McCluskey explains, the dispute was over the level of sedation that would be covered for patients during colonoscopies and other similar procedures. Doctors and patients often prefer anesthesia, which puts patients to sleep. But Blue Cross leaders argued many patients don’t need anesthesia and could be examined while sedated, but still awake. As a result, the health insurer said they’d only pay for anesthesia under certain criteria. That move drew outrage from doctors, who worried the policy could discourage patients from getting the unpleasant but important exams.
- Now what? Blue Cross is halting the policy indefinitely. Leaders say they’ll give a 90-day heads-up before making any changes.
Closing: Massachusetts plans to shut down MCI-Concord, its oldest men’s prison, this summer due to a steep decline in the state’s prison population and the aging nature of the facility. As WBUR’s Deborah Becker reports, the nearly 300 men currently at the medium-security prison, which first opened in 1878, will be moved to other facilities.
- By the numbers: Massachusetts’ prison population has dropped by nearly half over the past decade. There are now just over 6,000 people in state custody, compared to 11,400 people in 2013.
Opening: After a three-year renovation project, the Boston Public Library’s Faneuil Branch in Brighton’s Oak Square is reopening today — and it’s almost 5,000 square feet bigger. Officials say the renovation expanded the library to a total of 11,400 square feet, added a new children’s room and modernized the main entrance.
- Up next: The BPL’s branches in Chinatown, Egleston, Fields Corner and South End are also slated for glow ups.
P.S.— Want to play an NPR Tiny Desk concert? The 2024 Tiny Desk Contest is now open for entries (and WBUR’s own Amelia Mason is on this year’s panel of judges). If you’re an aspiring musician, click here to take the quiz to see if you’re eligible to enter and then read the instructions for making your video submission.
