Legislative Watch 
LEGISLATIVE
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6/8/04-Transportation Chairman Joseph Wagner, D-Chicopee, suggested fixing Massachusetts’ transportation problems by hiking the state’s fuel tax and adding tolls.
Wagner floated the idea June 1 as he unveiled a House plan to reorganize state transportation agencies.
He said alternative sources of funding – including tolls, perhaps on Interstate 93 north of Boston or Route 3 south of Boston – is essential to meeting the state’s growing transportation needs.
The House plan would create a finance council to look at how to fund transportation-related projects, and expand the authority of the state Transportation Department for a more coordinated approach.
Gov. Mitt Romney has advocated merging the Massachusetts Highway Administration and the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority.
New taxes and tolls are not included in the House plan, but Wagner said they should be considered as a way of combating the state’s backlog of highway expansions, road repairs and crumbling bridges.
Massachusetts Transportation Secretary Daniel Grabauskas told The Boston Globe that the governor is opposed to any increase in fuel taxes. But Grabauskas said he was studying high-occupancy toll lanes, where motorists pay for the privilege of using a dedicated lane at rush hour.
