No

Bad idea, raise gasoline prices as well.
Increase the tax to hetels and let visitors to the state pay the increases.
Seems like the mismanagement with mbta and other problems discovered by the newmedia should be corrected.

It's simple, yet the Governor and his buddy in Washington do not seem to get it. People are struggling. Raising taxes and fees over and over is slowly crushing people. The middle class will soon be something you read about in history books and online. There will be only two classes.The rich and the barely surviving. And during this last election, didn't they all say (both parties) that they have finally heard the people? How soon they forgot what the people said.

Is anyone actually surprised over this? That's what you get when you keep on electing the tax-and-spend Democrats to office. It started immediately with the drapes and the Cadillac ten minutes after this pompous fool took office, and has been going on ever since. Maybe Willie Lantigua can take over for Deval, and show us some really honest government! He's a Democrat, and a minority-the bleeding heart Massachusetts voters will love him!

Perhaps Deval got elected with the help of voter fraud like his buddy in the Washington mansion did. I don't have to show an ID to vote. Do you? But I wonder if that would even make a difference. Run a 3-legged pig for any Democrat office in this state and Democrats would vote for it "without thinking".

We need to learn to live within our means. No more tax hikes. That's it. Maybe it means increased user fees and no COLA for state workers. Just like everyone else.

I wish his sales tax cut would pass. It would certainly benefit Massachusetts because people would stop running to the border of NH as much. I hope the legislature passes that part of it.

We can certainly argue about the sales tax cut. Raising the income tax while dropping the sales tax benefits out-of-state visitors and tourists at the expense of working residents.
Those two elements of the Governor's plan--income tax hike and sales tax cut--essentially balance each other out. The new revenue comes from eliminating personal deductions like the tuition tax credit.
I'm still waiting for some sort of actual detailed justification of the Governor's proposed expenditures. I wouldn't pass the budget the way it is.

The funniest thing is most of you who are complaining about the Tax Hikes are also the ones who are complaining about crumbling bridges, potholes and limited MBTA services. How did you expect them to fund these things?

Do I like paying higher taxes? NO. But if it means better bridges, smoother roads and upgraded rail & MBTA service then I am all for it. I do believe some of the projects on the governors list should be cut but I really hope legislators do not cut the upgrades to the 93/95 cloverleaf in Woburn. Those upgrades are desperately needed and if not funded under this plan I don't know when we could have $320 Million again.

So if no one has found out yet the governor released a map the other day showing projects to be funded under the plan. In Waltham the following projects will be funded....

$$$ for rebuilding the Bike Path from Newton Street to Farwell Street
$$$ for building the Wayside Railtrail
$7.2 Million for replacing the Rte 117 bridge over Route 128
$42 Million for replacing the bridges around the Route 20 Rotary

Also an increase in Chapter 90 Road & Bridge Repair funds from $1.7 Million this year to $2.3 Million next year.

maybe use the pot hole money on the bike path

I appreciate Matt's delicacy, but that's $36 million for the Wayside Rail Trail.

Or we could spend $1.8 billion on South Coast Rail. This will create 3,800 jobs. So thats about $473,000 per job in capital expense.
http://southcoastrail.com/downloads/1%20-%20Corridor%20Plan%20Executive%20Summary.pdf

The line will generate a $21 million annual operating deficit, with annual operating cost of $26 million and expected farebox revenues $5 million. That's another $5,500 per year per job in operating subsidy.
http://www.southcoastrail.com/downloads/South_Coast_Rail_Plan_for_Action_04.04.2007.pdf

Maintenance? No estimates. Savor that.

Public transportation customarily requires subsidies--but normally you don't build lines that cannot generate 20% of the cost of running them.

An increase in Chapter 90 funding? Sounds great! Fixing our existing crumbling infrastructure? Sounds great! Expanding a system we can't afford to maintain now during a period of economic fragility? Sounds reckless, feckless, and stupid.

Pat: I agree with you. That $36 Million for the Wayside is not just for Waltham, its for the entire trail from Linden Street in Waltham to Berlin. I am against South Coast Rail. It would cost less to widen Route 24 than to build rail to Fall River. I am for the South Station Expansion as that was talked about years ago. I am for the 95/93 cloverleaf rebuild in Woburn and the interchange at 93/95 in Canton. We don't really have a choice on the Green Line Extension as it is required as Mitigation for the Big Dig under a Federal Lawsuit.

People have no idea how much Patrick wastes our tax dollars, including spending generously on himself.
I know someone on the inside and the stories I hear are disgusting.
The drapes and the Cadillac were only the beginning, and nothing has changed since then.
Not to mention the patronage jobs - people hired by Patrick who are completely unqualified for their lucrative state positions. It pays big time to be a friend of Deval's.
I can't wait to get this a-hole out of office.
I only hope we can find someone who doesn't believe he/she is entitled to all the corrupt fringe benefits that have always been the culture of MA government.
I'm not optimistic about that, though.

No this increase should not pass. We have a lot of waste to find and get rid of before that happens. I already do most shopping over the border in NH and won't have a problem moving there if taxes keep skyrocketing. When Obamacare hits I may move anyway unless Mass opts out. Private sector is already moving to drop spouse coverage under this idiotic bill. Wait til that kicks in and those spouses have to go purchase individual insurance with higher premiums than this year.

Id love to see bridges and roads fixed, unfortunatley only a fraction of our money goes to the right use. Im all for paying for things i need but i would ask this Gov of ours to first show us where all of our money is going/has gone before he comes back asking for more

The Governor's proposed transportation spending is on pages 17,18 and 19 here:
http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/Portals/0/docs/infoCenter/docs_materials/TheWayForward_Jan13.pdf

The Governor proposes $430 million for bicycle/pedestrian projects, in addition to the $1.25 billion for the multi-modal highway program, which itself includes bicycle and pedestrian accommodations in roadway projects.

The Governor's $3.8 billion commitment to passenger rail is, amazingly, entitled "Unlocking Economic Growth in the Commonwealth." There is not one single project in the Economic Growth category besides passenger rail. There is no estimate of revenues or maintenance costs for these projects.

Somehow the Governor's proposal omits any mention of the MBTA's $8 billion debt. I infer that the Commonwealth will not assume this debt directly, but will subsidize the cost of debt service by increasing registration fees by $53, increasing the licensing fee by $86, and increasing MBTA fares by %5 (page 31) to cover the annual $140 million operating deficit at the MBTA.

The Governor's proposal makes no effort to prune costs by making tough choices, or even easy choices. Instead, he assumes that because we have created MassDOT that's all the reform we could possibly expect, and he has a green light to raise revenue without limit.

I disagree.

Most of us spend so much time coming up with reasons of overspending, 2% salary increase, Cadillac, etc. I bet these are only the tip of iceberg made public, the rest is deep of water level our eye can see. The generation of patriots is gone... we are left with a bunch of self-interest politicians to choose from. They are our gift to our children's future.

p.s. I can't believe Obama is not taxing Facebook billionaire just to return a favor of campaign contribution Zuckerberg made to Obama. And I voted for Obama!!!